Re-use in the Art Field: The Iconography of Yakṣī

Abstract

The focus of this research is the re-use of the Yakṣī image. The study of the evolution of a certain iconography induces one to face the problem of re-use in correlation to the transmission of images in time, and of their survival or transformation in historical and cultural environments different from the original ones. In fact, every different time period formulates its new iconography but above all it takes up again pre-existing images: these may be “revived” and, hence, may be rediscovered after an oblivion, or they may have “survived” either maintaining their original aspect or having suffered modifications. In the figurative domain re-use is often used as an explicit quotation in order to assert a new ideology, a new ruler, or a new religion. In this article we investigate the different aspects of the mechanism of re-use of the iconography of Yakṣī focusing, in the end, on the case-study of Cenna Keśava Temple at Beḷūr.