Vajrabhairava with His Consort Vajravetali

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The wrathful Vajrabhairava is a yidam, a deity that presides over the great tantras of the highest yoga in Tibetan Buddhism. A guardian and destroyer of death, he is represented here with thirty-four arms brandishing an array of weapons, while his sixteen legs trample birds, dogs, and Hindu gods. He embraces his consort Vajravetali, an animated corpse, in a yab-yum sexual embrace that alludes to a dualistic totality encompassing compassion and wisdom. An orange, flaming aureole with swirling clouds edged in gold encircles the couple. Above presides Vajrabhairava’s parent Buddha, Akshobhya, and twelve associated manifestations of Hayagriva appear above and below.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art