Vashya-Vajravarahi
late 14th to early 15th century, Gilded copper alloy with semi-precious stones, Tibet, Densatil monastery, 70.2
Listen to visual artist Chitra Ganesh discuss this artwork.
Produced by Acoustiguide © Seattle Art Museum
Densatil Monastery
This photo offers a glimpse of the Densatil Monastery, where the Seattle Art Museum sculpture came from, not long before it was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) in China.
Historic photograph of the Densatil Monastery taken by anonymous photographer at an unknown date, © David Holler
Densatil Monastery in 1948
In 1948, Giuseppe Tucci, an Italian scholar of Buddhism, travelled to Tibet with a small team, including the photographer Pietro Francesco Mele. Mele captured photos of Tibet’s landscape and works of art, including this image of the interior of the Densatil Monastery, where our sculpture was originally located.
Photograph by Pietro Francesco Mele, 1948, © Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zürich, VMZ 402.00.0513.
Wrathful Deities of Tibetan Buddhism
In many types of Buddhism, enlightened beings can be either peaceful or wrathful. Wrathful deities, like the one in this sculpture, are responsible for protecting Buddhism and destroying the three major obstacles to enlightenment: anger, greed, and ignorance. Vajrayana Buddhism, the form of Buddhism that originated in Tibet, gives a special place to wrathful deities.
An excerpt from “Vajra Sky over Tibet” © Direct Pictures