Stair Riser with Marine Deities or Boatmen

Pakistan (ancient region Gandhara (Swat Valley?)

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 235

This sculpture and the triangular side relief (13.96.19) are part of a set of twenty-one panels that embellished the stairway of a stupa, likely on the western end of the Swat Valley. The treatment of the anatomy of these athletic men is interesting in terms of both the naturalism and schematization of the musculature. The oars they carry and the acanthus leaves that appear to grow out of their bodies suggest that they are marine deities.

Stair Riser with Marine Deities or Boatmen, Serpentinite, Pakistan (ancient region Gandhara (Swat Valley?)

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Stair Riser with Marine Deities or Boatmen, Serpentinite, Pakistan (ancient region Gandhara (Swat Valley?)
Stair Riser with Marine Deities or Boatmen, Serpentinite, Pakistan (ancient region Gandhara (Swat Valley?)

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