Imperial Portrait of Ropai Dorje (1717-1786)

若必多吉（第三世章嘉呼图克图）

 
 

48.4 x 33 cm (19 x 13 in)
China, Qianlong 

 

This fine painting of Rolpai Dorje (rol pa'i rdo rje) (1717-1786) is an exceedingly rare example of the blending of Italian and Chinese painting styles at the Imperial court of the Qianlong emperor.  The subsidiary figures, background, and body of Rolpai Dorje are all executed in a Himalayan style common to the Yonghe Temple in Beijing.  Yet the portrait face of Rolpai Dorje is executed in the ITALIAN BAROQUE style exemplified by the Jesuit priest, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) living in the Qianlong court.  It is unlikely that the portrait face was executed by Castiglione himself but by one of his students (Castiglione died in 1766 while Rolpai Dorje's demise is not until 1786).  Castiglione and his students were in high demand to paint portraits of important court figures and very few such paintings are still in existence with the vast majority being held in the Imperial Palace itself or in museum collections. 

This imperial thangka is one of a small group of works that consistently portray the idiosyncratic physiognomy of Rolpai Dorje. All the paintings in the group show the fine mustache and sparse goatee.  Also discernible in this and other portraits is a faint strabismus and drooping lower lid of the left eye, and the slight swelling of his right cheek for which he was known to suffer, compare, for example, a remarkably similar portrait in the Staatliches Museum fuer Völkerkunde in Munich, published in Andreas Lommel,Kunst des Buddhismus, München, 1974, p. 161, pl. 87. Other portraits painted in this distinctive style include two examples in the Yonghegong, Beijing (HAR # 100111), another example in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (HAR #35116), EA1983.26, one in The American Museum of Natural History (HAR # 94493), 70.3/1590, and another example formerly with the Asian Art Gallery, London, mounted in its original lacquered wood frame and similarly painted with a multi-coloured rainbow border, illustrated in Asian Art Gallery, Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, Vol. II, London, 2005, p. 104.

Rolpai Dorje was born in Amdo and educated at the court of the Yongzheng emperor where he formed a strong relationship with his fellow student, the future Qianlong emperor. Promoted to state preceptor by the new emperor he became one of the most important and influential figures at the Qianlong court, in both religious and diplomatic affairs. He was recognized as the incarnate Changkya Hutuktu, the Mongolian lineage of Buddhist masters. He presided over complex state Buddhist rituals, revitalized ancient Buddhist traditions and promoted revised teaching systems and Buddhist iconographic programs. He compiled the renowned illustrated pantheon of Three Hundred and Sixty Icons, and was responsible for the translation of important Buddhist texts into Mongolian. Under the auspices of the emperor, Rolpai Dorje was responsible for the prodigious production of almost all Imperial Buddhist works of art seen in the eighteenth century, and is regarded as a visionary character that greatly contributed to the legacy of the Qianlong reign.

Staring straight ahead, with the eyes open, wizened and wrinkled with age, he has a moustache and goatee. Atop the head is the traditional yellow pandita hat of the Gelugpa tradition. In the right and left hands are a vajra scepter and bell. Also in the hands are the stems of two lotus blossoms supporting on the proper right side an upright sword of wisdom. On the left side is a Prajnaparamita book.  Wearing the orange and yellow patchwork robes of a fully ordained monk, his lower body is wrapped in a yellow meditation cloak.

The throne seat is in a Chinese style with dragon arm rests at the sides. The table in front holds on the left side a black beginning bowl containing three peaches, golden water flask, damaru drum and a rhino horn. On the right side are an initiation vase, skull cup and conch shell.

At the top center are the Buddhas of the Three Times, Shakyamuni in the middle, Kashyapa, on the left and Maitreya on the right. Below that on the left is Green Tara. On the right is White Tara.

At the bottom center is the meditational deity Vajrabhairava. Below on the left is Shadbhuja Mahakala. Below on the right is Yama Dharmaraja. At the far left is Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo. On the far right is Vaishravana Riding a Lion.

 

48.4 x 33厘米（19 x 13 英寸）
中国，清乾隆时期

 

这幅若必多吉肖像是一件极为珍稀的，乾隆朝宫廷绘画中意大利风与中国画风相互融合的佳例。画面中的附属人物，画面的背景，以及对若必多吉身体部分的刻画都与北京雍和宫的喜马拉雅绘画风格一致。仅管画中若必多吉的面部有着明显的清宫廷画师郎世宁（Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766）的意大利巴洛克风格，这幅肖像的面部却极有可能出自郎世宁的学生之手，而非郎世宁本人（郎世宁逝世于1766年，而若必多吉圆寂于1786年）。郎世宁与学生们所绘制的肖像画广受宫廷皇室成员的喜爱，纷纷让其作画。然而，流传至今的郎世宁或其学生创作的肖像画却非常稀少，且绝大部分存世作品都藏于北京故宫或各大博物馆。

这幅清宫廷肖像是一小组一致描绘章嘉独特面相的唐卡作品之一。所有的绘画都极为细致地描绘了他的八字须和山羊胡。这组作品的另一可辨之处是画中人物右眼的轻微斜视，左眼下眼睑的下垂，以及右脸颊的轻微浮肿。另可参考一件与这件作品极为相似的慕尼黑国立民俗博物馆藏品，详见《Kunst des Buddhismus, München》, 1974年, 161页, 图 87。此外，有两件此种风格的作品藏于北京雍和宫（喜马拉雅艺术资源中心编号：100111），一件藏于牛津大学阿什莫尔博物馆（喜马拉雅艺术资源中心编号：35116），一件藏于美国自然历史博物馆（喜马拉雅艺术资源中心编号：94493），以及另一件类似的，装于原本的漆木画框，并围有彩虹色边的伦敦亚洲艺术馆旧藏，详见《Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces》，第二卷，伦敦，2005年，104页。

若必多吉出生于西藏安多县，受教于雍正朝并因此结识了他的学生，未来的乾隆皇帝。之后，他受封为国师，从此成为乾隆朝宗教和外教事务上最为重要且影响力最大的人物之一。他是内蒙古藏传佛教格鲁派活佛章嘉呼图克图转世，主持过许多繁复的朝廷佛教仪式，复兴了古代佛教传统，推广了改进后的佛教传教系统并指导了佛教造像系统。他编订了著名的三百六十佛图册，并把重要的佛教经文翻译成蒙文。由于深受皇帝器重，三世章嘉负责了惊人数量的，几乎所有十八世纪宫廷佛教艺术品的制造，并被尊为一位有远见且极大促进了乾隆朝发展的重要人物。

画面中，若必多吉双目睁开，直视前方，面部因年岁而显得消瘦而布满皱纹，有八字须和山羊胡。头戴格鲁派黄帽，右手持金刚杵，左手握金刚铃。两侧身旁长有莲花，左侧莲花上置有经箧，右侧则立有智慧宝剑。身着橙黄相间的僧袍，下裹黄色袍服。

宝座为中国风格，两边饰有龙臂。前方的桌子上，左边为盛有三个桃子的黑碗，金水瓶，达玛如鼓和一个犀牛角。右边是一个宝瓶，骷髅杯，和海螺壳。

画面顶部中央是三世佛，中间的是释迦牟尼，左边为迦叶佛，右边是弥勒佛。下方左边是绿度母，右边是白度母。

位于画面底部中央的是禅定尊大威德金刚，下方左边是黑六臂玛哈嘎拉，下方右边是阎魔护法，最左边是吉祥天女，最右边则是多闻天王。