Tantric Deities Hevajra and Nairatmya in Ritual Embrace (Yab-Yum)

This large gilt bronze with pigments from the late 16th-century Kathmandu Valley depicts Hevajra and Nairatmya in yab-yum (father-mother) embrace. Hevajra is the principal tantric deity of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He appears with eight faces, sixteen arms, and four legs. His sixteen arms hold skull cups containing eight animals (right) and eight worldly gods (left), representing sixteen types of emptiness.

His four legs trample the four maras (obstacles to enlightenment), depicted as Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Indra, representing Buddhism's supersession of Hindu theology. His consort Nairatmya means "Lady of Emptiness," embodying transcendent wisdom. At about 20 by 13 inches, this is a substantial piece of Nepalese tantric art. It's at the Art Institute of Chicago.