2-757-829 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Three Celestial Attendants, ca. 6th-7th century. The two female figures at left wear beaded textile headdresses typical of the female attendants represented in Kizil paintings, while the male figure at right wears an elaborate turban with diadems. The white highlights used to accentuate the nose and eyebrows of the male figure reflect a technique also employed in the wall paintings of Afghanistan. The presence of halos suggests that these figures were part of a host of celestial beings surrounding a Buddha in a heavenly realm.