Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Yakshi
India, Amaravati Great Stupa, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Not on view
One of the greatest early stupas in ancient Andhra to feature personified lotus-offering female nature spirits (yakshis) was Amaravati. The yakshi seen here formed part of the first sculptural program to embellish Amaravati's Great Stupa, executed around 150 to 100 BCE. The figure, sculpted in shallow relief on a limestone panel, has a startling quietude and grace. She faces left, and likely held a lotus bloom, now missing, the quintessential Buddhist offering. Such figures honored the presence of the Buddha, at this time only represented in symbolic form, as a throne or footprints, and often guarded by a rearing cobra. Depictions from other early stupa sites show yakshis standing atop mythical creatures, such as makaras, affirming their identity as nature-spirit personifications.
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