End Panel from a Casket: The Invisible Demon Indrajit Fires Arrows at Rama, Lakshmana, and Their Monkey Allies (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
This masterpiece of Sri Lankan ivory carving is one of two end panels from an ivory casket. Dovetails on its sides joined it to the box’s front and back, and the undecorated section at the top was covered by the arch-shaped end of the chest’s hinged lid. Several such caskets, modeled after Portuguese traveling boxes, were made in the west-coast kingdom of Kotte in the 16th century and were sent as diplomatic gifts to the Portuguese court. Their carved exteriors show historical, religious, and mythological scenes such as this episode from the Ramayana. Hidden by clouds, the demon Indrajit rains down arrows upon Rama’s army of men and monkeys, Rama—held aloft by a monkey on the right—returns fire while another monkey wrestles with a demon on the left. In the center, Rama’s brother Lakshmana is mortally wounded by one of Indrajit’s missiles.
Friends of Indian Art and the Robert A. and Ruth W. Fisher Fund
The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe, Asian Art Museum, October 21, 2016 - January 15, 2017
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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