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Often these thangkas are incorrectly identified, and where the deity's often highly specific attributes are listed many errors and omissions may occur. Naming the names' is perhaps akin to trainspotting, or to knowing the names of everyone in a crowded room and something of their dress sense or style - but unless one goes beyond the superficial and gets to know these people in their full and unique individuality, they will always remain strangers. The trend among western scholars and dealers in Tibetan art has been to approach the subject from the conventions of art history and criticism - where the provenance, identification, dating, style and cultural influences are discussed, along with an often unnecessary verbal description of the painting - but very little is written about its iconography, symbolism or real meaning within a purely Buddhist context. Deity identification is essentially of little value without an understanding of the qualities of the deity, and these qualities have everything to do with the Buddhist teachings, yet little to do with art history.
the descriptions are very detailed and tend to be lengthy (which I find to be very informative) but I must say the pictures aren't all that good and it is sometimes difficult to find exactly what you are looking for quickly. this book is very educational. Still this is a very good book, great source of information, and I do and will continue to recommend it.
The author's original illustrations provide a wealth of examples of images in Tibetan art, and the text provides rich historical and doctrinal background for understanding why the symbols are important. If you're interested in Tibetan Buddhist iconography for whatever reason you can't go wrong with this detailed book. Highly recommended.
A good compaion book, especially as this does not have a index, is the "Handbook" by the same author A source book without index is less than it should be. It does suffer from being without an index, for which the author apologizes. The author has spent a good portion of his working life in preparation: studying with Tibetan artists and craftspeople; and, becoming accomplished at rendering the brush drawings in an authentic manner. Recieved the book promptly and in the condition promised. The book is an excellent source book. Still the images are excellent, and I assume the text is accurate.
This is due to Rinpoche being a qualified (I emphasise the word 'qualified') Lama and Tibetan scholar. It's a more interesting and authoritative reference for this subject matter. Also at no point does Rinpoche compromise Tibetan Buddhism by giving away restricted information.
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