Green Tara, a popular Tibetan deity, personifies transcendent wisdom (prajna) and offers protection
and salvation to her devotees. Here, she appears as the Protectress of the Eight Great Perils, one of
her many forms. She sits within an architectural shrine, behind which 17 species of the bodhi tree
emerge, each characteristic of a different Buddha; their presence emphasizes Green Tara’s role as the
mother of all Buddhas. The painting is one of the most accomplished and admired Tibetan paintings in
a public collection, and Lee immediately recognized its importance and artistic value. He rated it among his favorites.
