Parvati

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Parvati

Artist Chola Dynasty Indian, 860 - 1279

Place of OriginIndia, Tanjore District

Dateabout 1150-1200

DimensionsH: 32 in. (81.3 cm)

Mediumbronze

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1969.345

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 35

Collections

Sculpture

Published ReferencesThe Toledo Museum of Art, "Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 12, no. 4, Winter 1969, repr.

"Art of Asia Recently Acquired...," Archives of Asian Art, vol. 24, 1970-1971, repr. p. 97.

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 130, no. 1225, repr. p. 58.

Hartman, Joan, "Notes from America," Oriental Art, vol. XVIII, no. 2, Summer 1972, p. 185, repr. fig. 4.

Toledo Museum of Art,

Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 53, repr. (col.).

Ducan, Sally Anne, Otto Wittmann: Museum Man for All Seasons, Toledo, 2001, repr. (col.) p. 17.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 29, repr. (col.).

Comparative ReferencesSee also Pal, Pratapaditya, The Sensuous Immortals, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and MIT Press, 1978, cat. no. 66c, pp. 112, 113.Label TextMade during the Chola Dynasty, one of the most renowned periods of Indian sculpture, this figure of Hindu goddess Parvati was probably originally paired with one of her husband, the principal Hindu god Shiva (Śiva). Gracefully posed on a lotus base, Parvati wears a tall, ornate crown and sheer pants held up by an elaborate belt. Her upper body is adorned with intricate necklaces; her arms are embellished with armlets and bracelets; and rings ornament her fingers and toes. Through her elongated earlobes she wears floral jewelry that falls onto her shoulders. She may have once held a lotus flower or bud in her raised right hand. The extreme length of her left arm echoes the curve of her hip. The harmony and elegance of her pose evokes the movements of a rhythmic dance. Every detail of her figure, from the diameter of her ankles to the position of each finger, is prescribed by strict canons of iconography and proportion that Indian craftsmen were required to follow in order to give tangible form to sacred concepts.