Mustang (Lo for its inhabitants), a district in the upper ranges of the Nepalese Himalayas, is dwelled by people of Tibetan stock. It was a semi-independent kingdom gravitating around Tibet from at least the 14th until the 18th century. After the Gorkhas’ takeover, the king of Lo became an officer of the Nepalese government, retaining a degree of autonomy, which has been lost since the kingdom of Nepal has turned into a republic. Arts flourished in Lo, particularly between the 14th and 16th century, under its local dynasty, in a cultural environment strongly influenced by the presence of the religious order of Sakya, the great monastic fortress in southwest Tibet. In particular, the 15th-century wall paintings in the assembly hall and in the temple of Maitreya at Möntang, the traditional capital of Lo, have the same aesthetic quality found in the famous murals at Gyantse, the ancient capital of a kingdom in southwest Tibet, and at Tsaparang, the ancient capital of the western Tibetan kingdom, while the 14th-century murals in the cave temple of Luri reflect the interpretation of Indian aesthetics as transmitted to Tibet through the Newar artists of the Nepal Valley and may be related to contemporary wall paintings in the monastery Shalu, in southwest Tibet. Monastic institutions and artistic production in Lo had suffered for a long time from a process of decay well before with the Gorkha conquest, and what was left of the region’s artistic treasures was already in a poor state of preservation at the time the great tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci visited the area in October 1952. Besides recording the most important and some hitherto unpublished religious sites of artistic interest, this monograph illustrates the restoration work carried out on the most important murals at Möntang, presently under the direction of Luigi Fieni, thanks to the sponsorship of the American Himalayan Foundation. This volume represents the first monograph on the artistic heritage of Lo, dealing with its most representative features and placing special emphasis on its painting tradition, but without overlooking sculpture and architecture.
Lo Bue E. (2010). Wonders of Lo. The Artistic Heritage of Mustang. MUMBAI : Marg Foundation.
Wonders of Lo. The Artistic Heritage of Mustang
LO BUE, ERBERTO
2010
Abstract
Mustang (Lo for its inhabitants), a district in the upper ranges of the Nepalese Himalayas, is dwelled by people of Tibetan stock. It was a semi-independent kingdom gravitating around Tibet from at least the 14th until the 18th century. After the Gorkhas’ takeover, the king of Lo became an officer of the Nepalese government, retaining a degree of autonomy, which has been lost since the kingdom of Nepal has turned into a republic. Arts flourished in Lo, particularly between the 14th and 16th century, under its local dynasty, in a cultural environment strongly influenced by the presence of the religious order of Sakya, the great monastic fortress in southwest Tibet. In particular, the 15th-century wall paintings in the assembly hall and in the temple of Maitreya at Möntang, the traditional capital of Lo, have the same aesthetic quality found in the famous murals at Gyantse, the ancient capital of a kingdom in southwest Tibet, and at Tsaparang, the ancient capital of the western Tibetan kingdom, while the 14th-century murals in the cave temple of Luri reflect the interpretation of Indian aesthetics as transmitted to Tibet through the Newar artists of the Nepal Valley and may be related to contemporary wall paintings in the monastery Shalu, in southwest Tibet. Monastic institutions and artistic production in Lo had suffered for a long time from a process of decay well before with the Gorkha conquest, and what was left of the region’s artistic treasures was already in a poor state of preservation at the time the great tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci visited the area in October 1952. Besides recording the most important and some hitherto unpublished religious sites of artistic interest, this monograph illustrates the restoration work carried out on the most important murals at Möntang, presently under the direction of Luigi Fieni, thanks to the sponsorship of the American Himalayan Foundation. This volume represents the first monograph on the artistic heritage of Lo, dealing with its most representative features and placing special emphasis on its painting tradition, but without overlooking sculpture and architecture.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
