Miniature Shrine with Jain teachers

From the 14th to the 16th century, a large number of these bronze portable shrines were made for the flourishing Jain community in India. They depict the Jain Tirthankaras, enlightened beings similiar to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. These figures, either standing or sitting, are always shown in meditation. Unlike artists belonging to other Hindu sects, Jain artists play down the sensuous modeling of the body and they concentrate on symmetry and geometric formalism. Jain Tirthankaras are supposed to have shoulders resembling those of a bull, their torsos like that of a lion while their chests expand with inner vitality.