Untitled

Unknown

14th century · Gilt copper alloy with color, inlaid with semiprecious stones · Asian Art

Tara, the supreme Buddhist saviouress, grants boons to devotees with her outstretched lower hand delicately clasping a flower bud. A lotus in full bloom adorns her shoulder. She is richly bejeweled, her openwork diadem inset with turquoise and semiprecious stones. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Tara is often presented as the spiritual counterpart to Avalokiteshvara and shares with him a premier role in Tibet as a compassionate protectress. Tara appears in many forms, of which Sitatara, the White Tara, who displays a lotus (padma), was the most popular. It is likely Sitatara who is represented here, the embodiment of perfected wisdom and wish-fulfilling granter of boons.

Artist

Unknown

Date

14th century

Medium

Gilt copper alloy with color, inlaid with semiprecious stones

Culture

Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Louis V. Bell Fund, 1966