Not everybody knows that the Rijksmuseum owns an interesting collection of artefacts from countries like China, Japan, India and Indonesia. Unfortunately, this Asian collection is not on show during the major renovation of the building, but it will get its own section in the ‘new’ Rijksmuseum.
One of the highlights is this sensual female figure originating from the town Khajuraho, in India. Khajuraho is known for its Hindu temples, which are (in)famous for the many sexually explicit sculptures on their facades. To some (Western) spectators the sculptures may appear somewhat provocative, especially since they were part of an important sacred building. But to the people who ordered and made such works of art, erotic feelings were a natural element within their religion.
This sandstone statue, dating from the 11th century, probably stood on the roof of one of the temples. The delicately carved woman appears convincingly as a living being to us, sensuously swinging her hips. Her voluptuous nudity is accentuated by the gown that is torn off her body by the monkey at her feet. The sexual connotation is reinforced by the visible scratches of her lover’s nails on her shoulder and cheek, an often-used motive in classical Indian love poetry.
Comments
The monkeys are in among the mangoes.
As for the lovely one, she is emerging from
Under the trees, the trees laden with mangoes
And monkeys. She’s coming out of the grove
Bearing the nail marks left by the one who
Meets her approval. Yes, they’re clearly there,
As if engraved on cheek and shoulder.
One monkey bolder than his brothers
Pulls at her wrap, perhaps he confuses
Her breasts for the ripened fruit he adores.
He wants to climb all the way up her,
But all he has done is expose her
Where she proves so neatly grooved
In the recess below her stomach’s creases.
He will never get to those mangoes.
She raises a whisk to be rid of the pest,
Swatting him as if he were a fly. For just as
The first fly contains the seeds of all the
Flies to come, each being called in its turn
To unfold its own parts at the appropriate time,
So the first monkey you allow, letting him
Climb your leg to get to your mangoes must
Contain the desires of all the inappropriate
Fellows who would feast on you.
Note that this celestial girl
Is tall as a tree herself, and that a princess
Shelters beneath her, a bit in her shade,
As if protected by an elder sister.
Celestial beauty from Khajuraho, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam