Section of Monolithic Railing with Bather and Lotus Medallions

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Section of Monolithic Railing with Bather and Lotus Medallions as sculpture (India, Mathura, Kushan period · c. 150–250 CE).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

In the windows above, carved on the coping stone, are two voyeurs and a bowl made of leaves filled with flower garlands, which would be used to adorn the sacred site.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this sculpture as red sandstone.

The museum's collection notes: Railings demarcated a sacred space, such as a tree shrine or a stupa. Images associated with purifying waters were carved on the railings, as if to symbolically cleanse those who passed through the gate. Under a fruit-bearing tree is a young woman squeezing water from her hair. In a visual depiction of an ancient Indian poetic trope, a goose mistakes the drops of water for pearls and comes to eat them.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtSection of Monolithic Railing with Bather and Lotus Medallions

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