Frieze with Apsaras
Unknown Artist
late 1100s
Medium
sandstone
Dimensions
25.4 × 87.6 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1938.433
About this artwork
Celestial dancers, with their legs drawn up to indicate that they are flying in space, enliven this architectural panel from the Bayon, the main state temple of the Khmer empire. The Bayon was conceived like a pantheon, housing all the divinities worshipped in the territories governed by the Khmer kingdom under King Jayavarman VII, who reigned from 1181 to 1218 across territories in present-day Cambodia and parts of Thailand and Vietnam. At various times in its history, the temple was dedicated ...