Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Devi, probably Uma
Not on view
This remarkable sculpture depicts a Brahmanical goddess (devi), likely Shiva’s consort, Parvati, more widely referred to in early Cambodia as Uma, her favored epithet in southern India. It was discovered in 1901 at a ruined temple complex of the early Khmer city Sambhupura (Sambor on the Mekong). She is graceful, gentle, and maternal—qualities associated with Uma. The body has a fleshy naturalism, with gently articulated folds below the breasts and a softly swelling stomach—a startlingly new naturalism not seen before in early Khmer art. The sculptural style suggests that the workshops at Isanapura (Sambor Prei Kuk) and Sambhupura shared a common pool of temple architects and sculptors.
cat. no. 94
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