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The illustrations of Tibetan printed books are a strikingly understudied issue, considered the wealth of data available to scrutiny. Indeed, while other material aspects of Tibetan books, such as wooden covers or manuscript illuminations, have received some attention, only few contributions address specifically the images in blockprinted texts. Moreover, Tibetan book illuminations have been usually studied in terms of their stylistic or iconographic features, while historians, specialists of textual studies, and even researchers particularly concerned with the history of the Tibetan book have so far mostly neglected the topic, to the extent that detailed and learned catalogues of Tibetan texts don’t even mention the illustrations. However, the illustrations constitute an integral part of the book, considered both as a material object and as an intellectual product.1 In order to approach this issue, I have chosen to present a case study on a Tibetan master artist active during the first half of the 16th century in the Western Tibetan kingdom of Mang yul Gung thang. mKhas pa Dri med is known especially for impressive illustrations of blockprinted books, in that distinctive style that readily allows to recognize volumes produced at the time in the area.2 He was among the foremost artists of his time, as may be deduced from the prestigious commissions received from the royal family, and his career in book illustration may be now well documented during the 1520s, 30s, and 40s. Unfortunately, however, no other extant work, such as scroll painting, mural or sculpture, may be attributed to him and is available for study. Therefore, aspects of his craftsmanship – such as the use of colour – and the full scope of his artistic output, may not be evaluated. Also the crucial issue of the relation-

15 Works and Networks of mkhas pa Dri med. On the Illustrations of 16th Century Tibetan Printed Books