Apsaras Paintings

Sigiriya Rock

This pair of ladies has been interpreted as a high-ranking court lady and her attendant. The attendant, right, carries a platter of flowers and wears a cloth top with chest bands; the noble lady, left, wears a distinctive headdress and contemplates a thick-stemmed lotus. There is also a difference in individual expression between the two (for the green skin of the lady on the right, see following pages). Similar differences are noted in the other pairs reproduced here (previous and following pages), all of which reinforce the idea that these paintings may be individual court portraits.

There is another pentimento here (see previous page). An outlined hand is visible on the chest of the attendant at right; the position of that hand was lowered to the horizontal in the final painting.