
by Unknown Artist, 1401
This large painted wooden sculpture from the 15th-century Kathmandu Valley stands over four feet tall, depicting Tara with her right hand raised in the abhayamudra (gesture of fearlessness and reassurance). The palm faces outward with fingers pointing upward. Tara is known as the "mother of liberation" in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, helping to remove obstacles from both the physical world and the mind.
According to Buddhist tradition, this gesture was first used by the Buddha himself to calm a charging elephant sent by his jealous cousin Devadatta. Nepalese Buddhist sculptures from this period often featured elaborate polychrome (multi-color) decoration, and traces of pigment remain on this figure. The piece is at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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