Goddess White Tara with Kneeling Donor at Base
by Unknown Artist, 1101
Details
- Year
- 1101
- Medium
- Phyllite
- Size
- 7.3 × 4.8 × 2.3 cm (2 7/8 × 1 7/8 × 7/8 in.)
This small phyllite sculpture from 12th-century eastern India shows White Tara, a beloved Buddhist goddess of compassion and longevity, with a kneeling donor figure at the base. White Tara has seven eyes: one on her forehead (wisdom), two regular eyes, and one on each palm and sole. These represent her all-seeing awareness of suffering throughout the universe. She specifically embodies maternal compassion, healing, and long life.
The piece dates to the Pala period (8th-12th centuries CE), the last great Buddhist dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. Pala art represents a refined classical style that heavily influenced Tibetan and Nepalese Buddhist art. The donor figure at the base records the patron who commissioned the work, ensuring their merit-making act was permanently preserved. It's at the Art Institute of Chicago.
