Skip Navigation

Vajrabhairava Yamantaka

Asian Art

This thangka, or painting on cloth, shows the multi-headed, multi-limbed, buffalo-horned god Vajrabhairava stomping on his enemies. Barely visible against him is his similarly fierce (and blue) female partner, Vajravetali. Vajrabhairava is one of Buddhism’s most intimidating deities. His worship is only for advanced practitioners. His alternate name, Yamantaka (Conqueror of Death), celebrates his role in combatting both the fear of mortality and mortality itself.
ARTIST Anonymous
CULTURE Tibetan
MEDIUM Color on cloth
  • Place Made: Tibet
  • DATES 19th century
    DIMENSIONS Image: 33 x 21 1/2 in. (83.8 x 54.6 cm) Frame: 59 1/8 x 35 1/2 in. (150.2 x 90.2 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 69.164.9
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wiesenberger
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Anonymous. Vajrabhairava Yamantaka, 19th century. Color on cloth, Image: 33 x 21 1/2 in. (83.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wiesenberger, 69.164.9 (Photo: Image courtesy of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, George Roos,er, 69.164.9.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 69.164.9.jpg. Image courtesy of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, George Roos, photographer, 2002
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.