A THANKGA OF YAMANTAKA, Tibet, late 18th ct., mounted on board. Depicted here as Yamantaka, "who ends the Yama", Vajrabhairava is one of the most important meditation deities in Tibetan Buddhism. He is nine-faced, with thirty-four arms and sixteen legs, looking terrifying in order to ward off the Dharma's enemies, with the peaceful face of Manjushri at the top, testifying his inner peace of mind, the crowns on his multiple heads made of five white human skulls, with a festoon of twenty-four severed human heads hanging from his neck, of massive stature, trampling on several humans and animals, the thirty-four attributes in his hands all symbolise the thirty-four elements of enlightenment, such as elephant skin, throwing arrow, phur-ba, diamond sceptre etc. - Property from an important South German private collection, assembled between 1968 and 2005 mostly from Schoettle East Asian Art and Joachim Baader, Munich - Publ. Thangka Calender 2013, March, Wisdom, Dec. 2012, Description by Dr. Olaf Czaja - Wear