MAHADEWI

Volcanic stone stele.
Indonesia, Eastern Java, 12th-14th cent.
The sculpture presents the Great Goddess in royal clothes and jewels. It could be the figure a deified queen. Images of that kind are known from the kingdoms of Eastern Java from the Late Classical period. The rulers of these kingdoms, confessors of Hinduism, were frequently identified with deities they worshiped and portrayed in that form.

MAP 1803, gift of Andrzej Wawrzyniak, 1973.