Tara

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This elegant, full-bodied figure of a Buddhist saviouress holding a long-stemmed lotus suggests affiliations with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. The highly modeled jeweled girdle and flowing sashes hanging free of the body point to a seventh-century date, placing her among the earliest representations of Tara known from North India. The closest analogy is a bejeweled Gaja Lakshmi depicted on a copper seal with Brahmi script datable to the sixth or seventh century, excavated near Haridwar, in Uttar Pradesh.

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