The terrifying deity that protects Buddhist monasteries

"It not only grabs my attention and pulls me into this alternate reality, but it plays very much with issues that I find threatening."

"It not only grabs my attention and pulls me into this alternate reality, but it plays very much with issues that I find threatening."

Curator Kurt Behrendt on a painting of Mahakala, Protector of the Tent

Explore this artwork:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78195

Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world. Each episode is interpreted by a Museum photographer.

Photography by Eileen Travell

Selected tracks provided by APM Music

Subscribe for new content from The Met: https://www.youtube.com/user/metmuseum?sub_confirmation=1

#TheMet #ArtExplained #Art


Contributors

Kurt Behrendt
Associate Curator, Department of Asian Art

A small wooden carved box featuring figures and a tree in relief.
The author of After Sappho offers a queer feminist reading of Eve and the serpent, reimagining sin as likeness, desire, and bodies transcending gender and species.
Selby Wynn Schwartz
January 9
A close-up detail of a painted face rendered in muted green, blue, and gray tones.
Author Leena Krohn reflects on Helene Schjerfbeck’s portrait of Sigrid Nyberg.
Leena Krohn
December 18, 2025
Black woman wearing all black, standing in front of mannequins dressed in blue, yellow and beige.
Video

Superfine Artist Tanda Francis, shares her inspiration behind the design of the custom mannequins used in the Superfine: Tailoring Black Style exhibition.

October 23, 2025
More in:Art ExplainedReligion & Spirituality

A slider containing 1 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Mahakala, Protector of the Tent, Distemper on cloth, Central Tibet
Central Tibet
ca. 1500