The Ninth Karmapa, Wangchug Dorje (1555-1603)

A partly effaced inscription indicates that this painting was executed during the Ninth Karmapa’s lifetime. The inscription also mentions the patron of this work as the Karmapa’s ordained disciple from Kongpo in the east who calls himself “nephew.” The Ninth Karmapa had two important disciple-patrons with this title, the dates of whom place the painting of this work to the 1590s. Especially suggestive is the fact that one of these “nephews” is recorded to have been a sponsor of works by the painter Namkha Tashi, founder of the Encampment style.