Wrathful Eight-armed and Three-faced Goddess Tara Marichi, Leaf from a dispersed Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita Manuscript
Unknown Artist
ca. 1090
Medium
Opaque watercolor on palm leaf
Dimensions
2 1/4 x 22 1/2 in. (5.7 x 57.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
India (Bengal) or Bangladesh · Pala period
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1955
Accession Number
55.121.36.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite leaf from a dispersed *Pancavimsatisahasrikarajnaparamita*, dating to around 1090, showcases the wrathful eight-armed and three-faced Goddess Tara Marichi in vibrant opaque watercolor on palm leaf. just 2¼ x 22½ inches, this fragile page from the Bengal region of India (or possibly Bangladesh) exemplifies the Pala period's mastery of miniature painting. The elongated palm leaf format, traditional for sacred texts in ancient South Asia, allowed scribes and artists to illustrate Buddhist sutras with intricate iconography, including dynamic deities and symbolic animals. The *Panca...