The saint Dus-gsum mkhyen-pa, also spelled Dusum Khyenpa, (1110-1193), the founder of the Kar-ma gdam-sa monastery after which the Karmapa was named, is said to have received from a Dakini the black hat which became later the emblem of the Karmapa leaders. This monk is also the founder of the mTshur-pu monastery in 1185, which developed into the mother monastery of the Karmapa school.,After his death, this saint was recognized as the first incarnation of the first lineage ever of reincarnated Lamas, which is specific to Tibetan Buddhism. His two next incarnations are Karma pakshi and Rangjung dorje (1284-1339), the latter portrayed here.
 

This unusual painting presents many characteristics that place it at a key moment in the evolution of the Tibetan painting history. The thangka is composed of a central figure surrounded by one hundred and thirteen vignettes. The center of the painting is occupied by the monk seated on a throne, wearing the black hat. On his left and on his right side above the rainbow, one can identify Dusum Khyenpa and Karma pakshi recognizable by his goatee.

This portrait of Rangjung dorje was probably painted shortly after his death. It is certainly with that of Sakyashri acquired in Tibet by professor Tucci and to-day kept in the R. H. Ellsworth collection, one of the oldest known illustrated Tibetan biography. In both caæs, the main figure, a monk, is seated in the center of the composition surrounded by a set of vignettes relating the highlights of his life.

None of the pictures bear inscriptions. Sakyashri was identified by professor Tucci because of his knowledge of the monk's biography written by Trophu lotsawa. In 1204 the latter had asked to Tibet the great monk from Cashmere Sakyashri. The artist followed very precisely this text.

This Third Karmapa painting has more vignettes than the Sakyashri painting and as we do not know the followed text, it is rather difficult to read. However, a closer study, together with the record of the most famous periods of Rangjung dorje's life, allow a reading starting with the vignette at the outmost right under the throne pedestal. Then, the reading proceeds clockwise around the Lama as in the ritual circumambulation (pradakshina). (cf : photo 2)

The twelve first vignettes seem to refer to his spiritual lineage, as a series of masters are represented, maybe among them
Padmasambhava, Damarupa, Dusum khyenpa ( the first Karmapa ) and Karma phakshi ( the second Karmapa ). The thirteenth vignette clearly tells of his birth on a house roof in Southern Tibet as well as it alludes to the vision of Dam-pa sangs-rgyas penetrating him in the shape of a rainbow. Numerous references are then made concerning his education and the spiritual knowledge he is taught. At the age of five, he encounters his former disciple, U-rgyen-pa, now his master, who initiated him to varicus cyclesamong which the Samvara tantra. His visions of Ekajati and Mahakala are depicted as well as the story of the dead tree which grows into a beautiful one afferhe replants it. The followingstories are also illustrated: his initiation to the Maitreya's five doctrines, the Padmasambhava's apparition, his comprehension of astrology and the ensuing treatise, the founding of an hermitage and the welcoming of the gods in the course of his wanderings. The lower row of vignettes should be read from right to left and probably celebrates his desth, showing him in a divine world. He is presented preaching next to the Buddha, then celebrating rites together with several divinities under the leadership of Vajradhara, then facingtwo stupas symbolizinghis twopreviaus incarnations, and then in an architectural structure together with Manjusri and Avalokiteshvara. The last four vignettes feature the Buddha, an adorned Vairocana, Amitabha and the Buddha again. This four representations refer to the divine
world where the Karmapa stays before his next reincarnation ( Amitabha is the Buddha of endless life ) but above all they fill up left over space in the composition.
 
 
 

Rangjung dorje is seated on a throne with a temple architecture background, ornate with mythical animals. The throne is resting on a lotus stem, emerging from a ritual vase supported by two Nagas. A very refined vegetal ornament arises above the rainbow which encompasses the monk. This central part of the thangka refers directly to the Indian Pala painting, the archetype for Tibetan art as early as the eleventh century. Its vecy specific style is linked to a small group of paintings usually said to originate from Western Tibet. The most famous among these is a monk portrait kept at the Los Angeles County Museum (inv. M. 80.188). The backgrounds of the hundred and thirteen vignettes are painted in red,blue and green therefore attestingoftheir links with Nepalese painting. As well as in the above mentioned Sakyashri painting, the monk is depicted according to the Indian pictorial traditions whereas the vignettes all around him are directly taken affer the Newari tradition, known since the thirteenth century. In this tradition the main divinity is surrounded by varicus anecdotes and legends showing its power and the efficiency of its ritual. Beyond this Newari structure and the rendering of certain figures, most of the vignettes here directly refer to illustrationsofPala manuscripts from which a typical Tibetan painting style originated with Nepalese elements reviving the drained international Pala tradition.

On a vignette located on the outmost right row, Rangung dorje is seated in an architectural structure surrounded by nine Buddhas drawn in black on a golden background. We are probably dealing here with the beginning of a new technique which later on will be used to paint whole thangkas.

Though painted a few decades later than Sakyashri, this portrait of the Third Karmapa shows pecularities in the rendering, attesting only of a different geographical origin. The above mentioned links referring to the monk portrait kept in Los Angeles, suggest a Western Tibet provenance. This attribution is supported by many stylistic similarities with the muralsofthe LhakangSoma inAlchi(Ladakh) and a fewother temples in the region. The date of these murals has been the object of a dispute for fiffeen years. This thangka probably paintod around 1350, supports the evidence that this specific «archaic» style was still well alive in this region in the middle of the fourteenth century. Àt the same time the Newari school was already fashionable in Central Tibet.

This superb narrative painting might be considered as the precursor of the famous thangka representing Milarepa's life, kept at the Los Angeles County Museum (M. 81.99.2). This Milarepa may be dated in the fifteenth century and may also come from Western Tibet. The three paintings, the Milarepa, the little monk, both kept in Los Angeles, and our Karmapa belong to the Kagyupa order. Their common geographical provenance may suggest the existence of a local pictorial school.