so easy to look at, so hard to define

Fertility Goddess (Yakshi)
At the Museum of Fine Art, Boston.

Northern India, second-third quarter of the 1st century A.D.

Yakshis and their male counterparts, yakshas, are semi-divine nature spirits believed to bring good luck, wealth, and other blessings such as the birth of children. They were worshipped in India prior to the development of Buddhism and were placed on early Buddhist monuments to attract good furtune—and converts—to the new religion. The yakshi’s ripe body and unabashed femininity emphasize her role as a source of fertility.

This figure once formed part of a bracket on one of the four large gateways of the monumental railing surrounding the Great Stupa at Sanchi. Originally she reached one arm upward to grasp the branch of a fruit-bearing tree

so easy to look at, so hard to define

Fine Folk