Torso of a deity. Khmer, Pre Rup style, 10th century.

Torso of a deity. Khmer, Pre Rup style, 10th century.
Sandstone.
Provenance: Former French collection of the sixties.
Conservation: Fragment with losses, without visible restorations.
Measurements: 55 cm high.

Fragmentary sculpture representing the torso of a Khmer art deity, ascribed to the Pre Rup style (10th century), a key period in the development of Angkorian art under the reign of Rajendravarman II. The piece shows the formal features characteristic of this phase, with a sober and volumetric modeling, where the body is defined by wide planes and a marked stylization.

The schematic treatment of the torso can be appreciated, with a narrow waist and smooth transition to the hips, as well as the arrangement of the sampot (traditional skirt), whose folds are indicated in a synthetic manner. This type of representation, generally destined for temples, responded to precise iconographic canons linked to Hinduism, probably associated with deities such as Vishnu or Shiva.

The Pre Rup style represents a consolidation stage in Khmer sculpture, characterized by a greater formal abstraction and a contained spirituality, moving away from naturalism to emphasize the symbolic presence of the divinity.

An example of notable interest for collectors, representative of the beginnings of the great art of Angkor, where the expressive force resides in the purity of the forms and the intensity of its religious conception.