- Title
- Celestial Nymph
- Date Made
- circa 1450
- Medium
- Light yellow marble with black striations
- Dimensions
- 44 1/4 x 20 x 9 1/2 in. (112.4 x 50.8 x 24.13 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.80.62
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Related iconographically to the slightly earlier representation of a celestial nymph also from Rajasthan (M.71.73.132), this larger and heavier sculpture served a different architectural function. It was most likely originally situated on an exterior wall of a Jain temple rather than as a bracket figure on the interior ceiling dome. The nymph twists at an acute angle to look towards the ground behind her. Her left arm goes over her head and may have once held a now-missing disk or other indeterminate object, while her raised right hand may have grasped its lower edge. She is richly adorned with jeweled ornaments and cascading strands of pearls. A long flowing scarf (dupatta) is around her shoulders, and another is knotted above her knees. The sculptor has taken delight in portraying the celestial nymph in a contorted dancing posture emphasizing her suppleness and has displayed considerable technical expertise in utilizing the dark striations of the rock to accentuate the swollen volumes of her breasts and other features. She stands beside a rectangular pillar or pilaster ornamented with a leonine face-of-glory (kirttimukha), a bell hanging from a chain, and a spandrel with a radiant quarter-lotus.
The sculpture was previously attributed stylistically to Ranakpur, the great 15th-century Jain temple complex in southern Rajasthan, but exterior sculptures from that site generally exhibit a more uniform geological matrix and the architectural ornamentations differ.
