Apsara Celestial Dancer
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Apsara Celestial Dancer
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Apsara, Celestial Dancer, Uttar Pradesh, India. 12th century AD.
Detail of a life-size sandstone sculpture of an Apsara (Celestial Dancer) performing in honor of the gods. Her body is contorted in an impossible pose for a human being, her legs projecting to her right while her upper torso and head turn sharply left. Impossible though the pose might be, it is uncannily full of movement and action. The Apsara seems to have been frozen just in the middle of some impossible turn, her necklace flying away.
The dancer's face and body follow the canons of beauty of the time, the sculpture so full of elegance and life that the missing parts do not diminish its awe-striking effect.
In Indian mythology, apsaras were beautiful, supernatural female beings. Youthful and elegant, they excelled in the art of dancing. Apsaras are sometimes compared to the Muses of ancient Greece and are also associated with fertility rites.
More amazing images from Ancient Civilizations one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/ancient+civilizations
More amazing statues, sculptures and carvings at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/statues+sculptures+carvings
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
July 22nd, 2020
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