The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Frieze with Apsaras

Frieze with Apsaras

late 1100s
sandstone
Overall: 25.4 x 87.6 cm (10 x 34 1/2 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1938.433
Location: not on view

Description

Celestial dancers, with their legs drawn up to indicate that they are flying in space, enliven this architectural panel from the Bayon, the main state temple of the Khmer empire. The Bayon was conceived like a pantheon, housing all the divinities worshipped in the territories governed by the Khmer kingdom under King Jayavarman VII, who reigned from 1181 to 1218 across territories in present-day Cambodia and parts of Thailand and Vietnam. At various times in its history, the temple was dedicated to either the Buddha or to the Hindu god Shiva--the central icon in the sanctum was changed accordingly. Ambiguity of sectarian affiliation and the merging and changing of deities was a common occurrence in Cambodian religious practice.
  • Robert Ochsé, France
    ?–1938
    (Mrs. Paul [Marguerite] Mallon [d. 1977], Paris and New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1938–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 791 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 242 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 243 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 320 archive.org
    McGill, Forrest. Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in the Arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan Region. San Francisco, CA: Asian Art Museum, 2022. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 192, no. 73
  • Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (November 11, 2022-February 5, 2023) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (March 31-July 10, 2023) https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/.
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    Khmer Sculpture. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 28, 1961-January 28, 1962).
    The Dance in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-August 17, 1955).
    Exhibition of the Month: Texture in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 6-December 8, 1947).
  • {{cite web|title=Frieze with Apsaras|url=false|author=|year=late 1100s|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1938.433