Centuries ago, the children of a small village in southern India were, like all children, beloved. The village’s deepest fear was losing its children in a tiger attack. So they got an artisan skilled in the lost wax technique to create a statue of a bhuta, a spirit, with openwork bands like the woven palm fronds typically used for such figures. But this was no benign, friendly spirit. It was a terrifying monster, and it was shown eating a child. The village confronted, daily, this manifestation of its fear, praying: Oh monster, pass over our children. Let them be safe.

To receive a weekly summary of the MFAH 100 series rather than a daily email, please subscribe on my Substack blog The Impatient Reader.