The Royal Bronzes

Step into the splendor of Cambodia’s Khmer Empire. Featuring more than 200 objects, this exhibition offers an unprecedented look at Khmer bronze craftsmanship brought to light through recent archaeological discoveries.

The West Mebon Reclining Vishnu starts and ends the powerful exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

“Royal Bronzes: Cambodian Art of the Divine” lives up to its name. The over 200 works of art on view display such exquisite craftsmanship. They are beyond doubt fit for a god and a king.  The remaining fragments of great statues such as two fingers from the god, Shiva, express such naturalism one can image how lifelike  the whole statue must have been. On other deities, minute detailing of hair, jewelry, and clothing speak to wealth

of the royal patrons and the dedication and talent of the artisans who made them. Amongst the seriousness of many of the sculptures whimsy can be found in dancing figures and magical creatures such as the  candleholder in the shape of a gajasimha,

an elephant-lion. This exhibition fills one with wonder, awe and perhaps delight.

Figurehead featuring Garuda takes the form of a "naga" or serpent and

a "garuda," a mythical birdlike creature from the Angkorian period.

Disgraced British art dealer, Douglas Latchford returned it in 2011

Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Liu Yang, Chair of Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art and Mia’s design team along with the research and didactic material produced by the Guimet - National Museum

of Asian Arts, France and the National Museum of Cambodia, enhance this sense of wonder through the exhibition’s layout and the stories told in the information plaques. Walls are covered in giant photographs of the ruins of ancient Khmer temples on the verge of being swallowed by the creeping jungle or with rain pouring down through roofless rooms. One can imagine being in those sacred spaces, where once upon a

time shining bronzes covered the surfaces and filled the niches.

Within this story-like setting, each work of art tells its own tale both ancient and of

the present.  There is the exquisite 10th century bronze and silver statue of a regally crowned four-armed Lokeshvara, the bodhisattva commonly known as Guanyin in Chinese, whose body was once separated from its head and thrown into a nearby river while its head was left behind only to be looted. The body was found in 1930 and until very recently the identity of this figure was unknown. It was not until 2012 that the head was discovered to be in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Only just last year, in 2024, the head was returned to the National Museum of Cambodia to be restituted with its body.

Other fascinating stories that connect the present to the past include the repatriation in the last five years of millions of dollars of artifacts by the daughter of the infamous art trafficker, Douglas Latchford.  Many of these works of art are in this exhibition such

as a beautiful Naga-enthroned Buddha from the first half of the 10th century. In 2012,

a royal foundry dating to the 10th or 11th century was discovered near the ancient capital, Angor Thom. This changed the understanding of where and how ancient bronzes were made. 

These and many other incredible stories prepare one for the final story, the climax of the exhibition, the great West Mebon Vishnu, a once seven foot long reclining bronze statue from the second half of the 11th century. It was first discovered in 1936 by men panning for gold in the basin that fills the center of the temple at West Mebon. Over

the following century, work was done to both understand the temple where it once presided as well as how it was made and its purpose. Most recently, the West Mebon Vishnu has undergone intense preservation and restoration. There is a very informative movie in the gallery preceding the great Vishnu that provides pertinent information about the discovery and subsequent work done on the West Mebon Vishnu and helps one to imagine what this colossal statue once looked like.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art is fortunate to have the opportunity to show “Royal Bronzes: Cambodian Art of the Divine,” on view until January 18, 2026. This exhibition was recently shown at the Guimet - National Museum of Asian Arts in France. Mia is its only other stop.  In the past twenty years, Cambodia has opened up and embraced tourism. Many have seen the great temples of Angkor Wat, but few have had the opportunity to see such a collection of bronzes. Thanks to recent discoveries, the return of artworks from museums and the restitution of works plundered and sold on the black market, we now more clearly understand the importance of these bronze works to the Khmer culture and the temples that housed them. It is an honor to be in the same room as these divine artworks and to invite them to share their inspiring stories.