https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/76290/fullPrivate prayer mandala19th century10 5/8 x 3 5/8 inches (27 x 9.2 cm)Buffalo horn, pigmentsGift of Mrs. Stanley A. Weeks91.049.0120An arc-shaped horn plate painted with Tibetan Buddhist deities in a landscape, using colorful pigments and fine lines. In the center is a mandala of concentric circles and squares enclosing a seated deity with one arm raised and holding a sword and the other forming a symbolic gesture in front of chest. One concentric ring contains four separate narrative scenes with figures, animals, mountains and a stupa. Another ring is a band of cloud patterns in alternating red, blue, orange and green. Surrounding the exacting mandala is a ring of more freely drawn vegetation and clouds. Central motif flanked by two "defenders of the religious law," or dharmapala in Sanskrit. Both are blue scowling figures with a thrid-eye, disheveled hair, wearing crowns of skull and skirts of tiger skin, treading on naked human beings on top of a floral pedestal, and surrounded by windblown flames. The one on the right, holding a white elephant skin, has three heads and six arms. Behind each guardian are hills and mountains, rocks and vegetation, and a pair of apsara or bodhisattva figures in torso view descending from clouds; further above the sky are a leopard with dragon whiskers and serpentine body and a hawk-like creature with feathers.Paintings18983625694Unidentified artistTibet91.049.012_HFJ0516c_81676009