Dome panel depicting a royal worshipper
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This panel from Amaravati is among the oldest portrait sculptures preserved from the Andhra territories. It depicts a Satavahana king with his hands in veneration. He is attended by a queen, a general (leaning on a war club), and women holding fly whisks and an umbrella. Although he lacks the other attributes of a Buddhist universal monarch—notably the elephant, horse, Dharma-wheel, and jewel—his royal status as a king at worship is clear. An empty throne in the fragmentary upper register references the Buddha’s presence. The donor inscription records the gift as from a wealthy woman who took spiritual instruction from the monk Budharakhata.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dome panel depicting a royal worshipper
- Period: Satavahana
- Date: second half 1st century CE
- Culture: India, Amaravati Great Stupa, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
- Medium: Limestone
- Dimensions: H. 66 in. (167.7 cm); W. 43 9/16 in. (110.6 cm); D. 3 9/16 in. (9 cm)
Display module: H. 76 1/2 in. (194.3 cm); W. 54 1/2 in. (138.4 cm); D. 16 in. (40.6 cm) - Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by British Museum, London
- Rights and Reproduction: © The Trustees of the British Museum
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art