The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 13, 2026

A vertically oriented tempera painting depicts four figures in a two-by-two grid, each seated within a gold-arched red niche. Above, two dark blue figures perform ritual mudras. Below, a reddish-brown figure sits atop a gray animal beside a pot-bellied, gray figure holding a skull cup. They rest on tiered lotus bases within a dark blue border filled with miniature deities and white lions. Golden ornaments and halos illuminate the figures.

Vajradhara, Nairatmya, and mahasiddhas Virupa and Kanha

c. 1450

Central Tibet, Ngor monastery

Gum tempera and gold on cotton
Framed: 74.8 x 59.8 cm (29 7/16 x 23 9/16 in.); Overall: 57.5 x 50.2 cm (22 5/8 x 19 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1960.206
Location: Not on view

Description

The first in a series depicting the masters who transmitted the teachings on how to reach enlightenment, this painting begins at the upper left with the dark blue Vajradhara, who represents the essence of all Buddhas. The female enlightened being Nairatmya is seated at the upper right. She transmitted the teachings to Virupa, the brown-skinned Indian yogi at the lower left, in a vision; his disciple Kanha is at the lower right.
  • ?–1960
    (C.L. Bharany, Calcutta [Kolkata], India, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1960–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Himalayan Gallery Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 22-September 28, 2025).
    Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation: August 2020-March 2021. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 14, 2020-March 7, 2021).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 239). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 1–December 22, 2014).
    Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-September 15, 2013).
    Dieux et Démons de l'Himâlaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaïque [title in Germany: Tibet, Kunst des Buddhismus]. Haus der Kunst, Munich (August 5–October 16, 1977).
    Dieux et Démons de l'Himâlaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaïque. Grand-Palais, Paris, France (March 25–June 27, 1977).
  • {{cite web|title=Vajradhara, Nairatmya, and mahasiddhas Virupa and Kanha|url=false|author=|year=c. 1450|access-date=13 April 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.206