Galdan Boshugtu Khan
At his height, Zanabazar was recognized as a sculptor par excellence among the Buddhist countries of Asia and the greatest sculptor of Mongolia He is sometimes referred to as the Michelangelo of Asia as he epitomized the Mongolian Renaissance. During his time in Tibet, Zanabazar came to admire the Nepali style of representational arts favored by the Gelug school and it profoundly influenced his own artistic development and style. Upon his return from Tibet in 1651 and 1656, he revived the art of metal image making in Mongolia, through carved images of various Buddhist gods from bronze or copper. By the 1670s and 1680s, he and his workshop of apprentices at Tövkhön Monastery were producing hundreds of artistic pieces used to populate the many monasteries and temples he founded and by extension were seen as vehicles to spread Buddhism beyond the confines of court circles to the lay masses. As his political influence grew, his artwork became a form of diplomacy, used in negotiations with the Dzungar leader Galdan Boshugtu Khan and to gain the favor of the Kangxi Emperor, paving the way for incorporation of outer Mongolia into Qing protectorate.