{"product_id":"body-and-spirit-tibetan-medical-paintings-9780295988696","title":"Body and Spirit: Tibetan Medical Paintings","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Our first encounter with these Tibetan medical paintings is filled with delight  wonder  and pleasure. Their boisterous colors  their exquisite detail  their marvelous array of subject matter  the often playful and energetic figures that people them - all these perceptions strike us at once. We are drawn to the paintings instantly but at the same time are beset with questions.\" - Janet Gyatso  from the Introduction  The first full set of Tibetan medical paintings  or medical tangkas  were painted between 1687 and 1703 and were inspired by Sangye Gyatso  Regent of the Fifth Dalai Lama  who was a great patron of medical learning. In a beautiful and unique artistic style  the paintings illustrate Tibetan medical knowledge that drew on medical traditions from India  ancient Greece  Persia  pre-Buddhist Tibet  and China  while remaining firmly rooted in Buddhism. Copies of the iconic images have been created in meticulous detail through the centuries and Body and Spirit focuses on a set of contemporary paintings in the traditional technique by the Nepalese artist Romio Shrestha and his assistants in Kathmandu.  The tangkas illuminate human anatomy and the causes and effects of illness  as well as their diagnosis and treatment. Most of the paintings consist of rows of small human figures  animals  plants  minerals  houses  landscapes  and demons and deities  depicting the rich complexity of human endeavor: farming  animal husbandry  personal hygiene  marriage  sex  birthing  fighting  sleeping  studying  and meditating. The thousands of small and large images were designed to add visual form to the technical information: an eye-pleasing teaching aid for medical students.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45665837482037,"sku":"ByrdShop_029598869X","price":48.46,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780295988696.jpg?v=1782409489","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/body-and-spirit-tibetan-medical-paintings-9780295988696","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}