Author Description

Tibet is a richly illustrated introduction to this extraordinary culture, presenting the art in all its glory, ranging from monumental temples and vivid wallpaintings to forests of prayer flags and exquisitely detailed devotional statues of Buddhas, deities, and saints.The book covers themes that have long preoccupied the popular imagination, including: the intricate, multicolored mandalas, which are a vision of the entire, unfolding universe; the hero-saints, who traveled through Tibet fighting the spirits of the mountains and valleys; the Dalai Lamas, eternally reborn incarnations of the great Bodhisattva of compassion; and the ferocious, sword-wielding, multilimbed gods that act as guardians to the land and its religions. These major themes, and many more, are interpreted visually through iconography, pattern, motif, and symbolism, as well as in terms of their underlying historical and spiritual significance.