Cleveland Museum of Art
Monster Caryatid
- Date
- late 500s
- Medium
- Limestone
- Culture
- China, possibly from Xiangtangshan, Northern Qi dynasty (550–577)
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
This squatting monster with claws on its knees, braces its shoulders against an overhanging molding. The half-human, half-animal creature was likely part of a Buddhist cave-temple complex at Xiangtangshan, in Hebei Province, northwest China. Found in the lower registers of stone monuments of either architectural structures or statues of Buddhist deities, such monsters had a supportive function. Their scary appearance was believed to keep evil spirits away from the sacred sites. The complex of Buddhist cave temples at Xiangtangshan, “Mountain of Echoing Halls,” is a central achievement of the Northern Qi period.
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