Tibetan Wood Monastary Door

Four skulls, all grinning. They are in no hurry, and neither is the lesson.

This monastery door comes from Tibet and dates to the mid 19th century. It is wood and pigment. Skulls appear widely in Tibetan Buddhist art as reminders of impermanence, and they are not meant as threats. One looks out from a red band at the top, flanked by dark flames. Three more sit below on black, linked by curling red tendrils. Pointed bands of green, orange and red layer the bottom third. Thirty-nine and a half inches by 69 high.

It is a serious thing to pass through a door like this, and it means you to know it.