Refuge Tree with Samantabhadra Thangka – 73×99 cm, Master Grade

A refuge field: blue Samantabhadra, the primordial Buddha, sits at the centre in union with his white consort Samantabhadri, framed by a turquoise halo, an aureole of red rays and a gold-coloured rim, with a tiered red and white stupa on either side. Above him, a column of clouds carries lineage masters up to a small blue Buddha beneath a fan of coloured rays, with a pyramid of teachers, yogis and monks on clouds on either side and offering goddesses flying in the deep blue sky.

Golden Shakyamuni sits among Buddhas in a great circle at the left and a teacher in a red hat among bodhisattvas in the circle at the right; below them, rows of peaceful deities, dancing dakinis and four-armed Chenrezig between two wrathful deities give way to a band of protectors in flames, some riding horses and snow lions. All of them rise on pink lotus petals from a dark lake at the foot, where a lotus plant grows from the water among rocks, trees and offerings of jewels, inside a red border.