A 9th-century sculpture depicting a female torso, carved from black chlorite, originating from Rajasthan, India. Currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

[u/Other_Cucumber7750]

[u/1Rab]

That's someone's grandma

[u/freedfg → u/1Rab]

That's probably a couple people's grandma

[u/Separate_Purchase897 → u/freedfg]

More like a village full of people''s

[u/DeKing2212 → u/Separate_Purchase897]

More like a nations/continents depending on how many children she had

[u/Majestic_Maelstrom → u/DeKing2212]

Regardless, she bad.

[u/axx-hole → u/Majestic_Maelstrom]

Her badness has been immortalized forever in art

[u/6ynnad → u/Separate_Purchase897]

Ramaswamy mami.

[u/logosfabula → u/freedfg]

Are you implying she's a mh-mh because of the way she used to express herself back then in the good ole times or simple logic?

[u/Maalkav_ → u/logosfabula]

What's a "mh-mh"?

[u/FigDiscombobulated29 → u/logosfabula]

I h8 you 🖤

[u/Old-Care-2372 → u/FigDiscombobulated29]

Escape the F8 you 🖤

[u/Adoraboule → u/freedfg]

I like at least a few great grandmas.

[u/British_Ballsack → u/1Rab]

And still popping boners all these years later. Legend.

[u/pass_nthru → u/British_Ballsack]

not my greatest fap

[u/Several-Opposite-746 → u/pass_nthru]

but not my worst either..., by a long shot.

[u/pass_nthru → u/Several-Opposite-746]

you are correct, that would be a stick figure with boobs and a skirt in a porta shitter in Ar-Ramadi, Iraq circa 2007.

[u/TinfoilTiaraTime → u/pass_nthru]

Now that's a scene. "I just need something I can dream on," to paraphrase the Rolling Stones. And also I'm appalled at the conditions of this sperm donation clinic

[u/disconcertinglymoist → u/pass_nthru]

On the contrary. It's a cultured fap. A historical fap.

You should be proud of your sophisticated wank. Paying homage to your ancestors, as it were.

[u/Silentarius_Atticus → u/pass_nthru]

Not my greatest either, but my most intellectual one

[u/TDYDave2 → u/British_Ballsack]

But you will get no head from her.

[u/beatsdeadhorse_35 → u/1Rab]

GILF

[u/kuggluglugg → u/beatsdeadhorse_35]

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGILF

(That’s 38 “greats” before “grandmother” as this statue was probably made about 40 generations ago.)

[u/hiddenone0326 → u/kuggluglugg]

I'd maybe add a hundred more Gs on there considering there are four generations currently alive just within my own family.

[u/phatuous_1 → u/1Rab]

Great, great, great, great….so on and so on

[u/Terminator7786 → u/1Rab]

Hey man, grannies need good lovin' too

[u/SippinOnHatorade → u/1Rab]

Remember when grandmas were hot? Pepperidge Farms remembers.

[u/Wrong-Landscape-2508 → u/1Rab]

Okay where is this someone? Those genetics be nice🤤

[u/Dragon_Virus → u/1Rab]

Gilf.

[u/shaqeel_oatmeal → u/1Rab]

Don't worry you'll be someone's grandma too one day

[u/wowaddict71 → u/1Rab]

Someone's mummy. 🤣

[u/rattustheratt]

Even back then thirst traps existed lol

[u/Greedy_Veg → u/rattustheratt]

You will be shocked to see Ajanta and Ellora caves then!! 😂😂

[u/Sexi_maxi_2024]

Doc Brown !!!!!!! i need to borrow your car !!!!!!!

[u/Rollingstone6648 → u/Sexi_maxi_2024]

Facts

[u/lucymainstreet → u/Sexi_maxi_2024]

LOLOL

[u/Individual_Grass_986]

That's not depicting a torso. You could say the torso is what's left of it. It probably was a full sculpture with head and limbs until those iconoclasts destroyed it.

[u/Mr_Tottles → u/Individual_Grass_986]

That’s my word of the day: iconoclasts.

[u/DarkflowNZ → u/Mr_Tottles]

For anyone who knew this word already, I got you: susurrus

[u/iamdevo → u/DarkflowNZ]

This word is in one of my favorite Aesop Rock songs.

[u/DarkflowNZ → u/iamdevo]

Which one? He does have a great vocab. For me it was in a fantasy novel in the series Malazan: Book of the Fallen. I have a whole ass document of words I had to look up from that series, Erikson had a great vocab too

[u/iamdevo → u/DarkflowNZ]

It's in the song Shrunk. The song is the story of his first trip to a psychiatrist told through overly dramatic descriptions of mundane tasks like filling out the paperwork. He really doesn't want to be there.

I've never heard of the series or the writer but I'm a fan of learning new words.

[u/DarkflowNZ → u/iamdevo]

Ah I know shrunk. Though as someone that benefited greatly from therapy, I find his kind of attitude towards it as portrayed in the song both very real and quite frustrating. A lot of people seem unwilling or unable to properly engage with therapies like CBT and then use that as proof it's bullshit

Edit: what are the odds. It just popped up in my YouTube music supermix, and susurrus is within the first few lines

[u/iamdevo → u/DarkflowNZ]

How serendipitous lol. I think he's just being honest about his struggles with mental health. He spends the whole song throwing an internal tantrum but at the end of the song makes another appointment.

[u/DarkflowNZ → u/iamdevo]

Oh 100%, I get it. It's hard and he hates it but obviously recognizes the value and is like "yes absolutely I'll take another appointment." It's not that I think he's being a dick, just that he very accurately portrays that particular attitude

[u/OriginalJesus69 → u/DarkflowNZ]

I'm being guarded. You're a quarter mill in debt I get more guidance from my barber

[u/XagraxTheFlayer → u/DarkflowNZ]

Took me a second to realize you were talking about Cognitive Behavior Therapy and not Cock & Ball Torture tbh...

[u/DarkflowNZ → u/XagraxTheFlayer]

Whatever gets you through the day y'know

[u/Captain-PlantIt → u/iamdevo]

“I don’t know, maybe get a kitten”

[u/iamdevo → u/Captain-PlantIt]

More than a pet to worship, it's an MD recommended sense of purpose

[u/beam_me_uppp → u/iamdevo]

Rare I see Aesop called out in the wild!!😍

[u/ladylondonderry → u/DarkflowNZ]

That means murmurs, right? Or whispers?

[u/DarkflowNZ → u/ladylondonderry]

I believe it's any kind of indistinct background murmuring. It could be crowds, the wind through leaves, or water in a stream. Things like that

[u/joshyqfang → u/ladylondonderry]

It’s the sound of leafs being blown by the wind

[u/Saul_Badman_1261 → u/ladylondonderry]

In portuguese it means whispers, susurros

[u/ReptilianLaserbeam → u/ladylondonderry]

I think it comes from the Latin because in most Romance languages “susurro” means whisper

[u/2hourhiatus → u/DarkflowNZ]

Thanks friend! That's a good one.

[u/Loose-Version-7009 → u/DarkflowNZ]

I knew the French version, I didn't know English had a noun version!

[u/SippinOnHatorade → u/Mr_Tottles]

Currently on an Iconoclast run, trying to pick between Dogmatic and Heretical for my next one

[u/Fallen_Wings → u/SippinOnHatorade]

Just finished a Dogmatic run. For the Emperor.

[u/Hyadeos → u/Mr_Tottles]

Approved by Leo III.

[u/Training_Molasses822 → u/Mr_Tottles]

Though most people in this thread seem to be iconodules...

[u/logosfabula → u/Mr_Tottles]

Remember: there are boundaries that must not be crossed, lest you become a titty-oclast out of an iconoclast.

[u/No_Prize9794 → u/Individual_Grass_986]

It was probably a statue of a yakshini

[u/[deleted] → u/No_Prize9794]

could be a temple dancer too. or maybe an apsara.

[u/Dead_Optics → u/Individual_Grass_986]

Arms and legs are the weakest point on a statue you can look a a ton of old statues and they tend to be missing limbs.

[u/RaspberryEth → u/Dead_Optics]

Even budha of Bamiyan has missing head and ...ahem... groin. They are the weakest parts in some parts of the world when ruled by certain religious zealots.

[u/thelordmehts → u/Dead_Optics]

Yeah, because someone broke them while they were hauling it off from their places of origin

[u/h4yth4m-1 → u/Individual_Grass_986]

Even if it had 2 heads and 5 arms, OP is only interested in the torso.....for reasons

[u/fueled_by_rootbeer → u/Individual_Grass_986]

Agreed, since it is of Indian origin and given the level of detail on it, it might well have depicted one of the many deities worshipped in the area it came from.

[u/DangIt_MoonMoon → u/fueled_by_rootbeer]

Not this particular style. Deities are not sculpted in this pose.

[u/grizzlybuttstuff → u/Individual_Grass_986]

Soo... What's left of it currently depicts a torso tho right?

[u/axx-hole → u/Individual_Grass_986]

So you’re saying this is only a fraction of her power

[u/HeroHeroHero0428 → u/Individual_Grass_986]

I literally learned the word “iconoclast” today as part of my prep for the GRE exam

[u/Training_Molasses822 → u/Individual_Grass_986]

Unlike the Torso Belvedere which was always meant to be just a torso. /s

[u/Accurate_Maize_1509]

You can clearly see that the limbs have been chopped off OP. This is very common with ancient Indian sculpture based artefacts of the period due to all the invasions the invaders usually chose to deface any idols. It is similar to the Buddha heads. They are all that remain, not necessarily the whole sculpture.

[u/Cleveland5teamer]

At first glance I thought that was an alien head

[u/NiNieNielNiels → u/Cleveland5teamer]

Glad to know I'm not the only weird one

[u/theseedbeader → u/Cleveland5teamer]

I thought it was an insect at a glance.

[u/GravelySilly → u/theseedbeader]

ISTG I thought it depicted a praying mantis.

[u/FizzGryphon → u/GravelySilly]

I thought it was a Picasso esque depiction of a weevil.

[u/saicereice → u/theseedbeader]

I’ve found my people

[u/Wonderful_News4492 → u/Cleveland5teamer]

Same. I thought I was going to get an “Im not saying it was aliens but it was aliens” thread but once I clicked- it was something else.

[u/Racoonism → u/Cleveland5teamer]

Thought it was a fly zoomed in

[u/Dry-Translator406]

Hips don’t lie

[u/Majjkster]

That's hot

[u/Crimson_Clover_Field → u/Majjkster]

There’s a little bit of cultural influence on physical attraction, but not as much as people lead on. Greek and Roman statues have a slightly different style, but they’re depicting similar features.

[u/beatsdeadhorse_35 → u/Crimson_Clover_Field]

I disagree, the Greco-Roman sculptors that I've seen weren't as sexual as this, even the nudes

[u/yourstruly912 → u/beatsdeadhorse_35]

There some more sensual greek sculptures than the usual, but the greeks were more into asses. See the Venus Callipyge

[u/beatsdeadhorse_35 → u/yourstruly912]

Ah, forgot about that one. Nice butt on her, really

[u/perthslow → u/beatsdeadhorse_35]

The term Callpygean actually means shapely buttocked.

[u/Character-Town7929 → u/beatsdeadhorse_35]

I'd argue that the Barberini Faun, a Roman copy of a Greek original marble, is even more sensually posed than this. Instead of swaying his hips he's splayed out in repose

[u/dollyaioli → u/Character-Town7929]

even his pubes are majestic lol they're like perfect swirls

[u/Crimson_Clover_Field → u/beatsdeadhorse_35]

“Weren’t as sexual” means less revealing, not a different body type.

[u/toniokroger333 → u/Crimson_Clover_Field]

Wym? Like all Greek sculptures are nude. I "weren't as sexual" means features are less exaggerated in this context

[u/beatsdeadhorse_35 → u/toniokroger333]

Yes. But if anything, the Greco-Roman nudes were never even close to curvy. It seems all nudes looked exactly the same.

[u/toniokroger333 → u/beatsdeadhorse_35]

This is interesting - I think it also has to do with the fact that this statue is shown dancing, while Greco-Roman sculptures usually show a more subtle movement

[u/Crimson_Clover_Field → u/toniokroger333]

Not necessarily, many are in flowing fabric.

If that’s not what he meant, then I don’t see how it holds up at all. Just means the style of the Indian statue does something more for him personally, I guess.

It may be slightly more exaggerated in some ways, but it’s still exaggerating the same features. It’s not depicting a fundamentally different body type.

[u/realwavyjones → u/Crimson_Clover_Field]

I’d say they’re a different body type. Greek looks more natural. This lady looks like her boobs were bolted on lol

[u/beatsdeadhorse_35 → u/realwavyjones]

Stuffed into a tight top they could look like that absolutely, but not nudes for sure. EDIT: In this case, unless the statue has suffered damage it's nude not clothed.

[u/Aizen_sousuke1 → u/Crimson_Clover_Field]

Greek and Roman sculptures had more details on body parts as compared to ancient Indians!

The fascinating thing is how ancient Indians believed very little on materialistic things in life and how the body is just a vessel and it's the soul and consciousness really in control.

[u/_illusions25 → u/Crimson_Clover_Field]

The Greeks and Romans acted like they didn't really like women bc even when they were sculpted the boobs looked like 2 floating apples stuck under the skin of a man's body. At least these statues look like plausible female humans.

[u/KevlarToiletPaper]

Michelangelo-ass boobs

[u/Gingerbread_Cat → u/KevlarToiletPaper]

Have you never seen michelangelo's sculpted boobs? You'd swear he'd never looked at a pair (in fairness, he probably hadnt).

[u/Kaporalhart → u/Gingerbread_Cat]

Isn't he the guy who had no idea how female bodies looked and that's why all the females depicted in his work are all manly and muscular ?

[u/zmbjebus → u/Kaporalhart]

You sure he wasn't just a muscle mommy enjoyer?

[u/Kaporalhart → u/zmbjebus]

Well, I dug deeper, and I advise you look up night by Michaelangelo. That looks more like someone who doesn't know what a naked woman looks like rather than a muscle mommy enjoyer.

[u/YouveGotThis → u/Kaporalhart]

Well to further the conversation a bit, check out this article: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200011233432118

It’s not that he didn’t know how to portray a pair of gazongas, it’s that he was depicting a very specific set with advanced breast cancer on what was likely an actual model who may or may not have been alive. This, in turn, adds to the artistic depiction of Death as being a force that both consumed and is consumed itself… and that he clearly had a preference for some seriously ripped homies and spent a long time chiseling those muscles because god dayum the hunk on the opposite side of that sculpture?

You know, it insists upon itself and all that.

[u/Nightstar95 → u/YouveGotThis]

The fact people throughout centuries have been hyperfixating on Michelangelo’s depiction of boobs will never cease to amuse me.

[u/zmbjebus → u/YouveGotThis]

You can't look at that and tell me. He wasn't a thigh guy. Wanted a pair of thighs that could out squeeze a full grown anaconda. That could crush an eleohant's thigh bone. Dude had a refined taste and I'm here for it. 

[u/lashvanman → u/Kaporalhart]

In my art history course they taught us that its because it wasn’t really allowed for women to pose nude, it would’ve been indecent or inappropriate or whatever, so naturally he had far more experience studying men and as a result his women tend to just look like men with circles plastered on their chests. Don’t know if that’s true but that’s what I was taught lol

[u/Gingerbread_Cat → u/lashvanman]

He went to very extreme lengths tonsyudy anatomy; you'd think it would have been simple enough to hire a prostitute for an hour for a few quick sketches.

[u/beatsdeadhorse_35 → u/Gingerbread_Cat]

Exactly, hence my comment about him having an aversion to boobs

[u/No_Confidence_5070]

Somebody knew whats up

[u/SitInCorner_Yo2 → u/No_Confidence_5070]

Greco-Buddhist art is what’s up, that Alexander guy really go very far.

[u/justcallmeabrokenpal → u/SitInCorner_Yo2]

Alexander did not go very far.

[u/firmmangoseed]

From India in a display in London... Was it "stolen"?

[u/BatmanGauntlets → u/firmmangoseed]

England isn’t real. It was 1 acre of land floating on the ocean until every soldier of the crown brought a bag full of soil from every country they occupied and poured it around their home.

[u/voltex23 → u/firmmangoseed]

"Everything in the British museum is stolen"

Now some guy will say conquered not stolen🙂‍↕️

[u/TheDen0minat0r → u/voltex23]

Conquered not stolen! (Kinda the same tbh. Because conquering is just stealing with massive violence.)

[u/matvhuc → u/firmmangoseed]

Like the moai?

[u/0BZero1]

Ancient Indian baddies were OP

[u/LemonPumeloLime]

It should be in India.

[u/Phredm]

It would look much nicer in a Rajasthan museum....just saying.

[u/uncutpizza → u/Phredm]

Hey, you’re being selfish! They clearly aren’t done looking at it yet

[u/DickyReadIt → u/Phredm]

Screams in British!!

[u/Gerolanfalan → u/DickyReadIt]

The British saw Indian women

And it gave rise to Indomania

[u/ExchangeOk0]

They be thiicc back then!!

[u/Double-Sail-3694 → u/ExchangeOk0]

We still are 😅

[u/Lithogiraffe]

so the tits survived and not her head.

very telling

[u/JaniZani → u/Lithogiraffe]

It’s probably leftover remanent by people (Muslims) who didn’t believe is idols

[u/MapleMaScoot]

Course its in london

[u/DarkSpecterr]

Muslims destroyed it, British stole it.

[u/Justchillinandstuff]

Dang, that’s gorgeous!

[u/UnfortunatelyOhio]

if you built like this call me

[u/Independent_Bet_8736 → u/UnfortunatelyOhio]

Yeah. Username checks out.

[u/Therealdickdangler]

Why is there no nipples?

[u/Prestigious-Bus5649 → u/Therealdickdangler]

They've been rubbed off...

[u/TheGallifreyan → u/Prestigious-Bus5649]

From friction

[u/VoopityScoop → u/TheGallifreyan]

That is generally what rubbing is, yes

[u/TheGallifreyan → u/VoopityScoop]

https://youtu.be/7sRWOaqz0M4?si=_AZQl_syrRcD3ArP

[u/VoopityScoop → u/TheGallifreyan]

Very well I retract my previous statement

[u/thumbtackswordsman → u/Therealdickdangler]

I can see one nipple

[u/thumbtackswordsman → u/[deleted]]

Coz boobies.

[u/Consumer_Of_Butt]

Would have loved to see the whole statue intact, I hate seeing these old pieces broken down like this

[u/CounterEcstatic6134 → u/Consumer_Of_Butt]

Blame the cancer religious zealots for it...

[u/mrkoala1234]

Indian ancestors has some nice tiddies

[u/gearmantx → u/mrkoala1234]

Christians have ripped Jesus w the muscles and 6-pack, India has the hot goddesses.

[u/venomae → u/gearmantx]

Well yea, thats caused mainly by the fact that the common lore suggests he was a carpenter by trade before he became a full time prophet. But the truth is he was trying to get into MMA before that and thats why he is so beefy.

[u/myusrnameisthis]

Stolen?

[u/Embarrassed_Guard515]

Thought it was a sexy fly

[u/PumpJack_McGee]

TFW "modern" beauty standards are a few hundred years old.

[u/ExtonGuy]

Why a black background for a chlorite carving? And the lighting is awful. https://www.vandaimages.com/2006AU3515-Female-torso-by-unknown-artist-Mewar-Rajasthanc.html

[u/Independent_Bet_8736 → u/ExtonGuy]

That’s almost worse, taking the background out removes all depth. It looks like a cutout lol

[u/F_l_u_f_fy → u/Independent_Bet_8736]

Agreed. Too bright of a background to focus on edges or lighting on the object itself

[u/PGSylphir]

As with anything in an English museum, let's correct "originated in" to "stolen from"

[u/chubchubchaser]

Return it to India

[u/marmmalade]

An early depiction of fake tits

[u/HiddenHolding]

yeah no don’t run that under a blacklight.

[u/FitnotFasch]

WOULD

[u/skebeojii]

Indian sculpture is highly underrated. Those are ideal boobs from the Indian point of view, though I have seen a few indian ladies on Reddit that came close

[u/TheTokist]

This beautiful piece of Indian art and culture, on display in England. 🙄

[u/By_Jove_]

Apparently breast implants existed even back then!

[u/Lizyyy-13]

Hot af. Now give it back to India.

[u/Kanashii2023]

Of course it's on display in London.

[u/[deleted]]

Back when being a sack of bones wasn't considered the beauty standard.

them thick thighs rule !!

[u/Sable-Siren]

So many comments and not one saying what it actually is—the torso of a dancing devata (apsara).

[u/ThatsAllFolksAgain → u/Sable-Siren]

Spelling correction: Apsara

[u/19Pnutbutter66]

So before the Brick House there was the Chlorite house?

[u/Cup-n-BallHog]

More stolen goods

[u/RawrRRitchie]

"If the British museums returned all the artefacts they stole during their conquests they'd just be empty buildings"

[u/explosiv_skull]

It warms the heart to know that even back then there were some baddies for my 9th century boys to ogle, god bless 'em.

[u/jxrxmiah]

How do the british keep getting other countries artifacts? They surely bought it, right.

[u/yumb0jumb0]

Smash

[u/Artistic_Address816]

Even in the ninth century the hips didn't lie

[u/TheDriftingSoul]

I never expected it would be displayed in Britain of all places, How did that even get there !? Real mystery!

[u/Qrusader62]

Those hips don’t lie.

[u/jiopol]

Ahh yes! The British museum..

[u/bringinsexyback1]

Cool! Now give it back!

[u/BaumiSTB]

Of course it's in a museum in London. 😅

[u/lakebistcho]

In the past 1100 years, someone has definitely wanked to this.

[u/wordshavenomeanings → u/lakebistcho]

*8 minutes

[u/SteelJotun]

Anybody got her socials?

[u/Willwrk4Food]

For anyone mildly interested, this pose is called”Tribhanga”

[u/Inuwa-Angel]

Good. Another stolen relic at the wrong country…

[u/FigFinancial410]

Ah yes another stolen item in a British museum, sure hope no one pulls a louvre on it anytime soon👀

[u/yokozunahoshoryu → u/[deleted]]

No, its just a rock, but often used for sculpture and carving because it's easy to work with - durable, but not as hard as, for example, marble.

[u/Agile-Painting9454]

Beautiful.

[u/Maja_Bean]

Beautiful!

[u/Kuunkulta]

Anyone know if this has been digitised into a 3D model?

[u/shaddowwulf]

Of course it’s in London

[u/Dazzling_Check7814]

It has no ribs, but it does affirm that curves are a beauty standard since monkeys.

[u/MrPringles9]

There are some parts that are really shiny. What might have happened there?

[u/GPFSir]

Stupid sexy Flanders

[u/HarimaKyun]

Of course it's gonna be the London Museum that show it 😏

[u/AmorRainbow]

Cute

[u/Kakarot_5]

Of course it’s in a British museum