Story #1 Figura Mundi

The first Mandala of the Modern West

The Latin name of this image is “Figura mundi,” in English “image of the world.” It is the earliest representation of a Buddhist maṇḍala (Sanskrit for “circle”) in modern Europe. The maṇḍala represents the world as conceived in Buddhist scriptures.

The “Figura mundi” first appeared in a book called Alphabetum Tibetanum, published in Rome in 1782. The aut…