2-727-422 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Double-Faced Crossbar from a Railing, c. 150 BC. This lotus medallion contains the bust of a male figure, whose hands are pressed together in the gesture of worshipful greeting. His upper garment billows around his shoulders and he wears massive earrings. His enormous turban is tied in the style distinctive to this period. The bead and reel motif around the circumference of the medallion reveals the artist’s knowledge of motifs that originated in the Mediterranean world. At the lower left is an inscription in Brahmi script stating the crossbar was the gift of a man named Mitra. In the center of the lotus medallion is the bust of a female figure clutching a nosegay of flowers. She wears an embroidered cloth draped over her head and large earrings. This large crossbar is from a railing that demarcated the sacred stupa site at Bharhut, which is one of the most impressive monuments to have been made soon after the advent of Buddhist art in India.