Central Tibet, 19th century; pigment on cloth; 38 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.; The Rubin Museum of Art, New York, F1997.6.3.

With the rise of the Mahayana and its belief in multiple buddhas beyond the historical Shakyamuni, so too came the Pure Land school. Here, Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light in the Pure Land faith, is shown with his court of bodhisattvas in Sukhavati, a land where devotees can easily reach enlightenment. Avalokiteshvara appears on the left below Amitabha’s pedestal, haloed in green and gold and holding a lotus blossom. He occupies a high position in this school and is featured prominently in Pure Land iconography, although in this Tibetan painting, he is only one small figure in Amitabha’s retinue. LK