Flying Celestial (Apsara), from a set of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and Flying Celestials

China

c. 951–953

Fresco

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A fresco depicts a flying celestial figure with a halo, holding a bowl of flowers in its left hand and reaching out with its right. The figure is adorned with jewelry and flowing garments against a background of swirling colors and abstract forms. These paintings were once part of a much larger composition—now dispersed among several collections in the United States—that originally formed the wall of a temple in north-central China, possibly Cishengsi in far northern Henan province. All together the set depicts a trio of seated bodhisattvas. Each one is flanked by standing attendant bodhisattvas and surrounded by other attendants performing rituals. They are also accompanied by flying celestials (apsara) in a paradise-like setting based on Esoteric Buddhist teachings. The seated bodhisattva here, originally the leftmost of the three primary figures, is backed by a halo and we