Sakyamuni Triad and Sixteen Arhats

This thangka depicts Sakyamuni flanked by his two chief disciples, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, and surrounded by the Sixteen Arhats, with the Guardian Kings of the Four Quarters and the Arhats' two attendants (Hva-shang, a monk, and Dharmatala, a layman) below. Although it has the overall features of a polychrome thangkas, some of the figures and their garments have been painted in gold, and it is an unusual example of the combined use of techniques used in polychrome thangkas and "gold thangkas" (gser thang) The sixteen Arhats have been painted in accordance with their standard mode of representation in Tibet, but it is a fine work that probably belonged to a prestigious monastery.