Cleveland Museum of Art
Amorous Couple (Mithuna)
- Date
- 400s
- Medium
- terracotta
- Culture
- Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Ahichchatra, Gupta period (c. 320-550)
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Amorous couples were among the most prevalent imagery on the exterior of sacred sites in early India. Their life-affirming imagery was considered auspicious. This roundel would have been part of a brick structure, since terracotta was typically used in the ornamentation of brick temples, instead of stone. The site of Ahichchatra retains ruins of a pyramid-shaped brick temple dedicated to Shiva.
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