Item: Wheel of Life
| Origin Location | China |
|---|---|
| Date Range | 1700 - 1799 |
| Lineages | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Collection | American Museum of Natural History |
| Catalogue # | 70.0/ 6931 |
Classification: Object/Concept
The Twelve Links begin at the 12:00 position with a blind man walking with a stick.
Wheel of Life: the most unique feature of this painting is the personification of death that holds the large circle of the Wheel of Life. He is not adorned with any ornaments such as bone necklaces, bracelets, or a headdress of five skulls. This omission of ornamentation is unusual and not commonly found with these types of paintings.
The lack of ornamentation is the unique aspect of this painting. The form of the 'death personification' figure is considered correct in this depiction. In Tibetan and Himalayan art it is typically wrathful deities that have bone ornaments and symbolic five skull crowns - not depictions of the personification of death in the Wheel of Life paintings.
It has however become the norm for Tibetan artists to treat the form of the 'death personification' as if it were any other wrathful deity and to decorate with the typical adornments used for any other wrathful Buddhist figure such as Vajrapani or Mahakala.
Jeff Watt 4-2011
Collection of American Museum of Natural History - I
Wheel of Life Main Page
Wheel of Life: Five Sections
Wheel of Life (Demon without Ornaments)