MANDALA REPRÉSENTANT MAHAMAYATIBET CENTRAL, MILIEU DU XVE SIÈCLEDistemper of cloth, with original silk mounts; the back has several Sanskrit inscriptions written in Tibetan scripts in black ink,prising a single-line inscription at the top center of the back of the silk mounts, identifying the subject, 'Mahamaya'; a single-line inscription in the top left corner of the painting's verso, also identifying the subject; and a multiple line inscription at the center of the painting's verso, consisting of the Buddhist creed ('ye, dharma hetu...') , a prayer for the successful fulfilment of the tantra's practices (Om Sarva Vidh Svaha), followed by an 'om ah hum' incantation.Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4897Image: 55 x 47 cm (21 5/8 x 18 1/2 in.)Provenance: A MAHAMAYA MANDALACENTRAL TIBET, MID-15TH CENTURY藏中 十五世紀中葉 大幻金剛曼荼羅Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970sThe principal deity at the center of this mandala is Mahamaya, whose textual sources derive from theYoginitantra class calledMahamayatantra. According to a post-10th-century classification system, the text is categorized as a 'Mother tantra', both due to the centrality of the female deity and its emphasis on yogic practices related to the body. The description of the mandala is directly prescribed from these sources held within a larger body of texts called theVajravali or 'Diamond Garland'. This mandala, of which this iconography is rarely depicted, would have been included as part of a set of mandalasing from this 11th-centurypilation of texts.Although a female deity, Mahamaya is portrayed in blue in the form of a male heruka, shown with four faces and four arms. The principal arms hold akhatvanga and skullcup crossed at the chest while the secondary arms wield a bow and arrow. In a fierce, sexual embrace, she holds the blue consort Buddhadakini. Each wear mirroring skull crowns and jewelry stippled with white pigment to create elaborate designs. They are set in an aureole of tightly packed crimson scrolling flames against a dark blue background. Encircling Mahayama are multi-colored lotus petals containing red, green, blue, and yellow dakinis alternating between large skullc placed atop offering pedestals.The rest of theposition is dense with ornamental designs, all painted in deeply saturated tones in a tightly packed program of rich, textural patterns. The figures in the outer area of the mandala - along the top and lower registers as well as the peripheral area around the mandala - are set in orbs made of shaded scrolling vines outlined in black. These same stylistic techniques are also employed on other paintings from Central Tibet, including a thangka from Shalu monastery sold at , New York, 21 March 2023, lot 506. All the figures are further set on top of a dark blue background covered with floral designs in a manner similar to a Marici mandala, sold at , Hong Kong, 29 November 2016