TIBET, FIN DU XVEME SIECLE Il est représenté assis en vajrasana sur une base lotiforme. Ses mains en dhyanamudra reposent sur ses cuisses et soutiennent le cakra. Il est paré de bijoux incrustés de pierres fines et vêtu d'un dhoti . Il possède quatre visages à l'expression sereine ; scellée. Haut: 33 cm. (13 in.)
Derived from an Indian Buddhist text known as Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra, Sarvavid is a form of Vairochana Buddha.
A gilt-bronze figure of Sarvavidvairocana of such a large size is extremely rare to come across. He is supporting here with both hands the ‘Wheel of the Doctrine’ or the dharmacakra. The four-headed figure is the most important deity in the Sarvavid Vairocana mandala being the root of the Sarvadurgatiparishodhana Tantra. This ‘Elimination of all Evil Destinies’ mandala was composed most likely during the eight century in North India. A few centuries later this Tantra was retranslated by the Tibetan scholar Rinchen Zangpo (958 - 1055) and became the iconographic source for two- and three-dimensional examples in Tibet.
A non-gilded bronze example is published by U. Von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, volume two, Tibet & China, Visual Dharma Publications Ltd., Hong Kong 2001, p. 1205, plate 329 B.