Goddess White Tara with Kneeling Donor at Base
by Unknown Artist, 1101
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1101
- Medium
- Phyllite
- Size
- 7.3 × 4.8 × 2.3 cm (2 7/8 × 1 7/8 × 7/8 in.)
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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.
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About Goddess White Tara with Kneeling Donor at Base
They represent all-seeing compassion. One on her forehead (wisdom), two regular eyes, and one on each palm and sole. These allow her to see and respond to the suffering of all beings throughout the universe.
Green Tara represents active compassion and swift intervention. White Tara specifically embodies maternal compassion, healing, and longevity. Tibetans pray to her especially for health and long life.
The donor who commissioned the sculpture. Including patron figures was common in Buddhist art. It permanently recorded their merit-making act, which in Buddhist belief generates good karma and spiritual benefit.
At the Art Institute of Chicago. It dates to the Pala period in eastern India.
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