Thangka

タンカ / 11th century– / Style / Icon Painting

Tibetan Buddhist scroll paintings render deities and mandalas under strict iconometric rule. Vivid mineral pigment and gold line make them maps for meditation, and because they roll up for travel they sustained a nomadic life of faith.

Thangka — Thangka with four mandalas 15th century — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Thangka with four mandalas 15th century — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Thangka — Thongdrel at the Jakar Tshechu, Bhutan — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 · © Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium — Thongdrel at the Jakar Tshechu, Bhutan — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 · CC BY 2.0 · © Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium

At a glance

Visual cues

Strict iconometric rule
The saturation of mineral pigments
Mandala geometry
The rollable scroll format

Best used for

Designing meditation practice as a map the eye can follow
Large rollable hangings made to be carried and used in ritual

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Dictionary entry

Type: Set every deity's proportions on the canonical grid and finish contours in gold
Composition: Place the central figure at the center, ringed by concentric frames and attendants
Material: Sized cloth, mineral pigments burnished for color, gold applied last
Caution: Loosening the iconometric proportions for free drawing makes the panel unusable as a map for meditation and reduces it to decoration.
Further study: iconometric grids (tikse) / the Ngor mandalas / thangka workshops today

Related entries

Persian Miniature (ペルシア細密画)Shared effects: Calm.Compare Thangka and Persian Miniature
Russian Icon (ロシア・イコン)Same Icon Painting lineage.Compare Thangka and Russian Icon

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