Nature Divinity (Yakshi)
Unknown Artist
c. 75 CE
Medium
mottled red sandstone
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":1.276,"width":0.49,"depth":0.254}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1968.104
About this artwork
This powerful figure personifies the ideal of the young mother in the form of a nature goddess associated with birth and nourishment. Her iconic stance with the weight equally distributed on both feet indicates that this statue was an object of worship. Her extraordinary headdress, well preserved in the back, and full complement of jewels and ornaments, point to the idea of wealth, which leads to prosperity.