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What is a Thangka?

asian art thangka tibet

What is a Thangka?

Thangka is a Tibetan word used to define scroll painting works designed to be portable and, when not in use, rolled up. The word "thangka" means "thing that one unrolls". The drawing, made with minerals and pigments, is generally applied to the surface of prepared cotton cloth or, more rarely, on silk. The subject of the thangkas could be religious or secular and it is generally divided in three categories: figurative, narrative and diagrammatic. Figurative subjects can be both non-iconic and iconic. Non iconic figures are mainly subjects of the Foundational and Mahayana Buddhism narrative and they can be represented...

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