On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Raktayamari with His Consort Vajravetali
As a wrathful emanation of the bodhisattva of wisdom Manjushri, Raktayamari represents the overcoming of death through enlightenment. The red meditational deity embraces his consort and tramples the god of death, a fallen blue Yama astride his water-buffalo mount. Black and buffalo-headed forms of the same deity, known as Yamantaka (“Destroyer of Death”) appear in the upper corners of the central frame. Additional manifestations line the margins of the painting, while the upper register shows mahasiddhas (tantric adepts) and lineage lamas of the Sakya school. The thangka’s dynamic figures, lively flourishes, and thin yellow borders derive from Nepalese artistic traditions, a salient stylistic source for Tibetan painting.
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