Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Drum panel with stupa veneration and seminal Buddha-life events
India, Dupadu Great Stupa, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh
Not on view
Three decorative panels on the drum of this spectacular stupa depict key moments in the Buddha’s life: his renunciation, enlightenment, and death. At the center is the Great Departure, represented as a riderless horse passing through a tall gateway, alluding to the start of Prince Siddhartha’s life as a mendicant (wandering ascetic). The profile of the horse draws directly from images on Roman coins then in circulation in southern India. The empty throne beneath a tree at left is a metaphor for the Buddha’s awakening at Bodhgaya, while the domed shrine on pillars at right houses the tooth relic, a symbol of the Buddha’s passing. These three scenes thus celebrate the seminal moments in the Buddha’s life.
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