Royal couple standing under a tree

Description

The mottled pink sandstone of this fragmentary relief identifies its origins in the quarries of Sikri, a site in north central India that lies near to the major pilgrimage center of Mathura. From the first through third centuries, this region was the source of great innovation in sculpted imagery for all three of the major religions of the Indian subcontinent at that time: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
The charming couple presented here are a crowned king, who holds up his right hand in a gesture of reassurance, and his consort, who is in the guise of a nature goddess, holding an auspicious pot. The pair probably represents the parents of one of the jinas, the “spiritual victors” of Jainism.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.