The deeply recessed central panel of this cover contains five elaborate shrines as well as exuberant foliage. The figures within the shrines are the five transcendental Buddhas of the Vajrayana (Diamond Path) pantheon. From left to right they are Ratnasambhava, Akshobhya, Vairochana, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. The Buddhas can be identified by their gestures, the animal attributes represented on the base of their shrines, and by the symbols on the carpets draped over their thrones.
Details
- Title: Book Cover with Five Transcendental Buddhas
- Date: 15th century
- Medium: Painted and gilded wood
- Dimensions: 11-3/4 x 30 in. (29.8 x 76.2 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation, from the Estate of Jennifer Jones Simon
- Accession Number: M.2010.1.201.S
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Treasures from the Himalayas: Sacred Treasures from Tibet, Nepal and Northern India
- Norton Simon Museum, 2003-05-30 to 2003-10-27
In the Land of Snow: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-03-28 to 2014-08-25
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 2: Art from the Himalayas & China, 2003, no. 124 p. 12, 182
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1609 p. 426
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