{"id":"cma-150995","titulo":{"en":"Crossbar from a Railing: Female Figure amid a Lotus (verso)","es":"Travesaño de barandal: figura femenina entre un loto (reverso)"},"titulo_original":"Double-Faced Crossbar from a Railing: Female Figure (verso)","autor":"Unknown maker / Autor desconocido","fecha":"c. 150 BCE","cultura":"India, Madhya Pradesh, Bharhut, Shunga period","tecnica":"plum-colored sandstone","fuente":"Cleveland Museum of Art","licencia":"CC0-1.0","licencia_url":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/","credito":"Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund","url_original":"https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.44.b","imagen_url":"https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.44.b/1982.44.b_web.jpg","ficha":{"en":{"titulo":"Crossbar from a Railing: Female Figure amid a Lotus (verso)","se_ve":"The piece fills almost the entire frame against a smooth, dark gray background. It is an irregular block of reddish-brown, plum-toned sandstone, wider than it is tall, with rough, chipped edges and a matte, grainy surface. Two small dark metal mounts protrude from its sides, revealing its present-day museum display. Dominating the front is a large circular medallion carved in relief, ringed by a plain raised border. Inside, a ring of broad, pointed lotus petals — about sixteen — radiates outward, each petal defined by incised veins and layered over smaller petals in the gaps. At the center, within a sunburst of fine radiating lines edged by a beaded band, appears the frontal bust of a woman. Her face is oval and calm, with large almond eyes, arched brows, a straight nose, and a small, closed mouth. A woven, crisscrossed coif covers her hair, a lotus-shaped ornament rests on her forehead, and large heavy earrings pull at her lobes. She wears layered necklaces over her bare breasts. Her raised right hand, at the height of her ear, gently holds a cluster of small round flowers. Soft, even light picks out the shallow carving and the stone's pitted texture.","contexto":"According to the source data, this is the reverse of a double-faced crossbar from a railing, carved in plum-colored sandstone around 150 BCE during the Shunga period at Bharhut, in present-day Madhya Pradesh, India. Its maker is unknown. It belongs to the Cleveland Museum of Art, in the Department of Indian and Southeast Asian Art. The source identifies the central woman as a figure akin to a yakshi, a nature divinity associated with life-giving forces. The round flowers she holds are probably kadamba blossoms. The exact appearance and placement of the other face are not described in the available information.","como_mirarla":"Start at the center and look into her eyes, then follow the radiating lines outward as if the lotus were opening around her. Next, look for the small cluster of flowers in her right hand and her jewelry; these quiet details shift her from a decorative motif to a living presence. Finally, look beyond the perfect circle to the broken edges of the stone.","dato_curioso":"A surprising visual effect: her bust occupies the very heart of the lotus, so the flower does not frame her like a backdrop — she seems to be blooming from within it.","preguntas":["In what ways does merging a woman's body with the center of a lotus change how we read both the figure and the flower?","What might this image of fertility and calm have meant to someone walking alongside the railing it once belonged to?","How does knowing that the carving has another face on its reverse change the way you imagine it in its original setting?"]},"es":{"titulo":"Travesaño de barandal: figura femenina entre un loto (reverso)","se_ve":"La pieza ocupa casi todo el encuadre sobre un fondo liso gris oscuro. Es un bloque irregular de arenisca marrón rojiza, de tono ciruela, más ancho que alto, con bordes ásperos y desportillados y una superficie mate y granulosa. A los lados sobresalen dos pequeños soportes metálicos oscuros que delatan su montaje actual en el museo. En el frente domina un gran medallón circular tallado en relieve, rodeado por un borde liso y elevado. Dentro, una corona de pétalos de loto anchos y puntiagudos — unos dieciséis — se abre hacia afuera; cada pétalo lleva nervaduras incisas y se superpone a pétalos menores en los huecos. Al centro, dentro de un resplandor de líneas finas radiantes cerrado por una banda de cuentas, aparece el busto frontal de una mujer. Su rostro ovalado es sereno, con ojos grandes y almendrados, cejas arqueadas, nariz recta y boca pequeña y cerrada. Una cofia tejida con patrón entrecruzado le cubre el cabello, un adorno en forma de loto luce en su frente y grandes aretes pesados cuelgan de sus lóbulos. Lleva collares sobrepuestos sobre el pecho desnudo. Su mano derecha, alzada a la altura de la oreja, sostiene con suavidad un racimo de flores pequeñas y redondas. Una luz suave y pareja resalta el relieve poco profundo y la textura porosa de la piedra.","contexto":"Según los datos de la fuente, esta es la cara posterior de un travesaño de barandal tallado por ambos lados en arenisca de tono ciruela, hacia 150 a. C., durante el periodo Shunga, en Bharhut, en el actual Madhya Pradesh, India. Su autor es desconocido. La pieza pertenece al Cleveland Museum of Art, al Departamento de Arte de India y el Sudeste Asiático. La fuente vincula a la mujer central con una yakshi, divinidad de la naturaleza asociada con las fuerzas que dan vida. Las flores redondas que sostiene son probablemente de kadamba. No consta en la información disponible cómo es la otra cara ni dónde estaba exactamente colocada.","como_mirarla":"Empieza por el centro y busca su mirada; después sigue las líneas que irradian hacia afuera, como si el loto se abriera alrededor de ella. Luego repara en el racimo de flores de su mano derecha y en sus joyas: esos detalles pequeños la convierten de motivo decorativo en presencia viva. Al final, mira más allá del círculo perfecto y nota los bordes rotos de la piedra.","dato_curioso":"Un efecto visual sorprendente: el busto ocupa el corazón mismo del loto, así que la flor no la enmarca como un fondo — ella parece estar floreciendo desde su interior.","preguntas":["¿De qué manera cambia la lectura de la figura y de la flor el hecho de que el cuerpo de la mujer ocupe el centro del loto?","¿Qué pudo significar esta imagen de fertilidad y calma para quien caminaba junto al barandal al que perteneció?","¿Cómo cambia tu manera de imaginar la pieza en su lugar original al saber que tiene otra cara tallada en el reverso?"]}},"etiquetas":{"en":["ancient indian art","shunga period","bharhut","sandstone","relief sculpture","lotus","yakshi","female figure","nature divinity","fertility","flowers","serenity"],"es":["arte indio antiguo","periodo shunga","bharhut","arenisca","escultura en relieve","loto","yakshi","figura femenina","divinidad de la naturaleza","fertilidad","flores","serenidad"]},"objetos":["bloque de arenisca","medallón circular de loto","busto femenino","racimo de flores","cofía","collares","aretes","soportes metálicos de museo"],"colores":["#9c6b5a","#7a463c","#c3a08c","#5d3a32","#34373c"],"animo":["serena","fértil","antigua"],"epoca":"c. 150 BCE","certeza":"alta","advertencias":["desnudez parcial: senos descubiertos"],"capa":{"voces":[{"guia":"la restauradora","en":"This plum-toned sandstone block fascinates me because of its resilience. Its edges are rough and chipped, and its porous, grainy texture reveals its age, from around 150 B.C.E. The relief is shallow but very crisp: the circular medallion, the crown of petals, and the central bust. I look at the two small dark metal supports on the sides and think about how we mounted it to protect it without hiding the original stone of the Bharhut railing.","es":"Este bloque de arenisca color ciruela me tiene fascinada por su resistencia. Tiene bordes ásperos y desportillados, y una textura porosa y granulosa que delata su edad, de alrededor del año 150 a. C. El relieve es poco profundo pero muy nítido: el medallón circular, la corona de pétalos y el busto central. Miro los dos pequeños soportes metálicos oscuros a los lados y pienso en cómo lo montamos para protegerlo sin ocultar la piedra original del barandal de Bharhut."},{"guia":"el astrónomo aficionado","en":"I see a small cosmos carved in stone. The medallion is like a solar system: at the center, the serene bust of the yakshi, and around her a radiance of fine lines enclosed by a beaded band, like sunbeams or stars. Further out, the sixteen lotus petals form another perfect orbit. Everything is symmetrical and circular, as if this woman, linked to life-giving forces, were the luminous center of her own galaxy.","es":"Yo veo un pequeño cosmos esculpido en piedra. El medallón es como un sistema solar: al centro, el busto sereno de la yakshi, y a su alrededor un resplandor de líneas radiantes cerrado por una banda de cuentas, como rayos de sol o estrellas. Más afuera, los dieciséis pétalos de loto forman otra órbita perfecta. Todo es simétrico y circular, como si esta mujer, asociada a las fuerzas que dan vida, fuera el centro luminoso de su propia galaxia."},{"guia":"la niña de ocho años","en":"It looks like the lady is peeking out of a window made of flowers! She has a crown of pointy petals around her, like a lotus sun. Her face is very calm and she wears a little woven cap, big earrings and many necklaces. With her little hand she holds a small bunch of round flowers near her ear, as if she were waving hello or giving us flowers. I like that she is right in the middle and looks straight at us.","es":"¡Parece que la señora está asomada a una ventana de flores! Tiene una corona de pétalos puntiagudos alrededor, como si fuera un sol de loto. Su cara es muy tranquila y lleva una gorrita tejida, aretotes grandes y muchos collares. Con su manita sostiene un ramito de florecitas redondas cerca de su oreja, como si nos estuviera saludando o regalándonos flores. Me gusta que está en medio de todo y nos mira de frente."}],"retos":[{"pregunta":{"en":"If you count carefully, how many large pointed petals form the outer crown of the medallion?","es":"Si cuentas con cuidado, ¿cuántos pétalos grandes y puntiagudos forman la corona exterior del medallón?"},"pista":{"en":"Look at the edge of the carved circle, they are the petals opening outward with marked veins.","es":"Mira el borde del círculo tallado, son los pétalos que se abren hacia afuera y tienen nervaduras marcadas."}},{"pregunta":{"en":"What small round object does the woman hold in her raised right hand?","es":"¿Qué objeto pequeño y redondo sostiene la mujer en su mano derecha levantada?"},"pista":{"en":"It is not a necklace or an earring, it is near her ear and looks like a little bunch of tiny balls.","es":"No es un collar ni un arete, está cerca de su oreja y parece un ramillete de bolitas."}},{"pregunta":{"en":"In the photo, what two modern dark elements hold the sandstone piece on the sides?","es":"En la foto, ¿qué dos elementos modernos y oscuros sostienen la pieza de arenisca a los lados?"},"pista":{"en":"They are not part of the ancient sculpture, they belong to the current museum mount and peek out at the gray edges.","es":"No son parte de la escultura antigua, son del montaje actual del museo y se asoman en los bordes grises."}}],"conexiones":["el loto como símbolo sagrado","yakshis y divinidades de la naturaleza","escultura en arenisca del periodo Shunga","Bharhut y el arte budista temprano","el barandal como arquitectura narrativa","ornamentos: cofias collares y aretes antiguos","flores de kadamba y fertilidad"]},"salas":[],"escrita_por":"muse-wonder-1.0"}