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The Buddhist deity Amitayus
The Buddhist deity Amitayus

The Buddhist deity Amitayus

Place of OriginChengde, China
Date1700-1800
MaterialsColors on cotton
DimensionsH. 30 in x W. 17 1/2 in, H. 76.2 cm x W. 44.4 cm (image), H. 53 3/4 in x W. 29 1/8 in, H. 136.5 cm x W. 73.9 cm (overall)
Credit LineThe Avery Brundage Collection
Object numberB60D10+
DepartmentHimalayan Art
ClassificationsPainting
On View
Not on view
More Information

Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life and a manifestation of Amitabha, is the red directional Buddha of the west. Like Ushnishavijaya (around the corner to your left), images of Amitayus were created to celebrate and guarantee a long life. In this thangka painting, a golden halo adorned with multicolored jewels surrounds Amitayus—a style developed by eighteenth-century Chinese artists to depict many Buddhist deities.

China’s Qianlong emperor was a follower of Tibetan Buddhism. During his reign, monk-artists from Tibet and Mongolia painted many thangkas for the emperor’s palace in Beijing and his summer resort in Chengde. This image is one of them, and indeed may be one of 9,999 that the Qianlong emperor commissioned in 1770 on the occasion of his mother’s eightieth birthday.