Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Ayaka cornice with four narrative roundels
India, Nagarjunakonda, Gunter District, Andhra Pradesh
Not on view
This beautifully realized panel presents four key moments in the Buddha’s spiritual journey (right to left): Prince Siddhartha proclaims his intention to renounce his royal privilege, leaves his father’s palace in the Great Departure, resists the temptations of the demonic celestial king Mara, and delivers a sermon as the Buddha. Sculpted in a mature Nagarjunakonda style, each scene is contained within a lotus-edged roundel separated by amorous couples (mithunas) who stand on lotus pedestals between garlanded pilasters. Acanthus-leaf designs luxuriantly fill the voids surrounding the roundels. A long inscription on the upper molding records it as the gift of the leader of a guild, dedicated in the late third century CE.
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