Unsuspected by the outside world, the dark chapels and storerooms of Tibet’s temples and monasteries continue to shelter a vast number of ancient Buddhist sculptures in a diversity of styles hitherto unimagined. Until now, these Tibetan monastic collections have remained almost entirely unknown to the outside world. These temples serve as depositories not only of sculptures manufactured on the Tibetan plateau, but of images from every region of the Himalayas, including Nepal, in addition to Northern India and China. It was the Buddhist art from these areas that had a strong impact on the development of the art of Tibet, and many of the sculptures published here add greatly to our understanding of this complex relationship. 

Taking photographs of objects inside Tibetan monasteries is very difficult if not outright impossible. In most of the monasteries access is restricted as a result of security measures imposed to prevent theft. Therefore, to facilitate access for scholars to photographs of Buddhist sculptures in Tibet, a DVD is attached to each copy of the book with the title 108 Buddhist Statues in Tibet published in 2008. This DVD contains digital photographs of the 108 illustrated statues and of the 419 most important Buddhist sculptures in the collection of the Jokhang/ Lhasa gTsug lag khang. Some 311 of these statues were 2001 published in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet. The remaining 108 statues are illustrated in Jokhang – Tibet’s Most Sacred Temple, edited by Gyurme Dorje (Thames & Hudson, 2009). 

Digital photographs of 527 Buddhist sculptures can be downloaded free of charge by anyone, regardless whether for personal use or for publication. The photographs were taken by Ulrich von Schroeder during 14 expeditions to Tibet between 1980 and 2006. This is the largest website of digital photographs of Buddhist sculptures in Tibet.