Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Vajracharya Priest's Crown
Not on view
Embellished with numerous, varied semiprecious stones, this example is perhaps the most ornate and best preserved of the known Vajracharya crowns. All the applied decor is repoussé gilt-copper sheet riveted to the crown; only the thunderbolt (vajra) finial, which surmounts all the crowns, was cast. Four Transcendent Buddhas occupy the cardinal positions around the lower section of crown, and the presence of the fifth, presiding Transcendent Buddha, Vairocana, is likely implied by the vajra finial. The curvature of the diadem band, richly inlaid with lapis lazuli, is particularly pronounced and gives an exceptional elegance to this crown.
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