Parvati
Artist: Chola Dynasty (Indian, 860 - 1279)
Date: about 1150-1200
Dimensions:
H: 32 in. (81.3 cm)
Medium: bronze
Place of Origin: India, Tanjore District
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1969.345
Label Text:Gracefully posed on a lotus-shaped base, the Hindu goddess Parvati wears sheer, form hugging pants, which are held up by an elaborate belt. She wears a tall, ornate crown; her upper body is adorned with intricate necklaces; her arms are embellished with armlets and bracelets; and rings ornament her fingers. Through her elongated earlobes she wears floral jewelry, which falls onto her shoulders. She may have once held a lotus flower or bud in her right hand. The extreme length of her right arm echoes the curve of her hip. There is a sense of harmony and elegance about her movements as she thrusts her hips sideways and gestures with her fingers, evoking the movements of a rhythmic dance. Parvati and her husband, the god Siva, are regarded as the divine exemplars of human love. Originally this sculpture was probably paired with one of Siva. Parvati's slender proportions and rhythmic curves remind us that she is the embodiment of femininity and fertility.
Indian craftsmen were required to use traditional techniques and to follow strict canons of iconography and proportion recorded in religious manuals for sculpture, architecture, and other crafts to give tangible form to such sacred inner visions. The special attributes, temperaments, and powers of the deities were conveyed by a system of symbolic poses, gestures, and accessories, as well as accompanying attendant figures. Though this figure of Parvati was made during the Chola dynasty, which ruled southern India from about the ninth to the thirteenth century, she is presented in a classic figure composition that had been repeated with minor variations since the second century BCE.
Indian craftsmen were required to use traditional techniques and to follow strict canons of iconography and proportion recorded in religious manuals for sculpture, architecture, and other crafts to give tangible form to such sacred inner visions. The special attributes, temperaments, and powers of the deities were conveyed by a system of symbolic poses, gestures, and accessories, as well as accompanying attendant figures. Though this figure of Parvati was made during the Chola dynasty, which ruled southern India from about the ninth to the thirteenth century, she is presented in a classic figure composition that had been repeated with minor variations since the second century BCE.
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