![]() It would’ve been possible for pilgrims to circumambulate the Buddha and that is the way in which you honour a sacred being. But it also helps us realise that this sculpture would’ve been seated somewhere in the round. MADHUVANTI GHOSH: Unfortunately, it’s quite illegible so it so we haven’t been able to decipher it yet. ![]() The writing is likely a dedication from or about the person who donated this sculpture to its original location, a monastery at the port city of Nagapattinam, near the southwestern tip of India. As you circle toward the rear of the Buddha, you’ll see an inscription across his back. From the side you’ll notice his unusually large ears, the shell-like curls of his hair, and the flaming knot atop his head, representing spiritual knowledge. NARRATOR: Now, start to make your way around the sculpture. On the palms of his hands you can see the the symbol of the chakra, or wheel of law. A small dot, called the urna, is a sign of divine vision. ![]() NARRATOR: If you look between the Buddha’s eyes, you’ll see one of those markings. What is really beautiful about him is the fact that he has these markings on his body - these 32 markings that special beings were supposed to have. MADHUVANTI GHOSH: This is the first sculpture that I decided to install in these galleries because it’s location determined how everything else fitted around. NARRATOR: Alsdorf Associate Curator of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, Madhuvanti Ghosh. MADHUVANTI GHOSH: As you walk into the Alsdorf Galleries, the sculpture that takes one’s eye is this very large Buddha who is seated in meditation. I think this is a work that will allow that kind of respite, that kind of joy, but also bring a sense of wonder that is unparalleled. I absolutely can see people coming here and reflecting on time they’ve spent in nature, on remembering a loved one. Narrator: To take in the full complexity and intricacy of the landscape, from the mountain peak to the lush foliage at the waters edge, we encourage you to do some up-close observation as well as from across the room.Įlizabeth McGoey: It’s a work of deeply resonant beauty. Sarah Kelly Oehler: What they ended up doing was really thinking about how to use the glass itself to achieve different aesthetic effects. ![]() One distinctive example is the leaves of the trees, made of what is appropriately called “foliage glass.”Įlizabeth McGoey: Which is where shards of glass are thrown onto another molten color and went through the rollers, where you get this dazzling confetti-like effect that conveys dappled light coming through trees. Narrator: Northrop, Tiffany, and the many talented specialists across the firm were celebrated for their innovations in stained glass. Sarah Kelly Oehler: And the woman who designed this was named Agnes Northrop and she was, in fact, Tiffany Studio’s leading landscape designerĮlizabeth McGoey: She really had an eye for natural compositions, for how to create well-developed, interesting, intricate passages of foliage and water. And the firm had become synonymous with technical innovation and radiant brilliance. Sarah Kelly Oehler: Mary Hartwell would have chosen Tiffany Studios because, at that time, they were the preeminent maker of glass products.Įlizabeth McGoey: Louis Comfort Tiffany had started a glass company in 1885, which would then become Tiffany studios. Even now it still has deep resonance with the family. Frederick Hartwell was born in New Hampshire and his family had a home there. It is also a landscape that meant a great deal to the family that commissioned this work from Tiffany Studios as a memorial.Įlizabeth McGoey: This window was a commission made by Mary Hartwell in honor of her husband Fredrick Harwell who was a deacon of the Central Baptist Church in Providence, Rhode Island. Narrator: This intricate arrangement of glass comes together in a soaring view of Mount Chocorua in New Hampshire, long the homeland of Algonquin peoples as well as many other Indigenous communities. Sarah Kelly Oehler: This is actually comprised of 48 panels of glass, but what you don’t see is that each individual panel might be up to five layers thick of glass, sort of pancaked together. It’s not flat at all.Įlizabeth McGoey: We see this dazzling landscape, these naturalistic details-the back of the window, in fact, looks like a topographical model, it sort of undulates and changes in size. Elizabeth McGoey: One of the things that I think visitors wouldn’t know about the window when you’re standing in front of it is how deep those glass layers can go.
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