Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings

Tibetan Buddhist murals are common in Tibet, Ladakh, Nepal and Himachal Pradesh, for Tibetan Buddhist temples and other religious places characteristic wall paintings. They can be detected in succession Kashmiri wall paintings from the 11th century.

History

First contacts with Buddhism, Tibet had in the 7th century, after a break again from the 10th century. In order to enrich the Tibetan Buddhism, the King Yeshe Ö sent the young monk Rinchen Zangpo, who returned not only with an extensive collection of signatures, but also with 32 Kashmiri artists.

Since the 11th century can be divided into Tibetan as Ladakhi monasteries murals in the influence of the Kashmiri style demonstrate. With the Islamization of Kashmir this art was lost there, wall paintings of this period from Ladakh, Nepal and Himachal Pradesh but are evident in his tradition. From the 12th century, Tibet was itself become the center of today often referred to as Lamaism Buddhism and its culture.

Content

Motives of the murals are historical figures such as the Buddhist founding figures Padmasambhava and Tsongkapa, but also gods and goddesses of the esoteric pantheon, mystics, pictures of llamas, scenes from the life of the historical Buddha and his previous lives. Of great importance are mandalas, which serve as an aid to meditation. At the end of the 12th century, the iconography and kick it " wrathful deities " and yab-yum figures changed to.

Technology

The murals created on the type of secco painting, so on a dry surface. The subsoil is usually a multi-layered clay plaster, whose top layer is carried out as smoothly as possible. This will be completed by a further smoothing, usually white primer. As material for the primer kaolin, chalk or gypsum is most commonly used, but other white, resistant minerals come into question.

For a first outline of the work will be carried out preliminary studies. This usually included the geometric structure, alignment of mandalas compasses were used. Figures were roughly sketched and then their contours, usually specified with black paint. Repetitive designs are sometimes created by the use of templates.

Traditionally, the various ornaments and figures were used color codes to speed up and simplify the Kolorierens. To this end, each section was given a number from 1 to 9, or an abbreviation for the color name. The actual painting was done either by applying a semi-liquid paste or by a stamp which was produced from a previously made ​​mold and then applied to the prepared wall.

Depending on the final apparent color of a painting, special inks have been used for the background music. So got ocher tones as a soundtrack in bright yellow. Similar to Tibetan paintings, painting either al secco or al fresco was equipped with shading techniques. The shading could glazes or by means of a secco technique as shading by tiny dots of color that have been applied to the surface of the painting.

Some murals were decorated with ornaments in Pastiglia, a kind of relief technique. Details were achieved with small brushes using a variety of colors: black, white, ocher or red Fine ornaments were made with gold and applied either by gold plating or by mixing a powder with a binder.

Evidence

• Buddhism in Tibet
• Visual Arts ( Buddhism)