Artwork Page for Agni, God of Fire

Details / Information for Agni, God of Fire

Agni, God of Fire

c. 1000

India, Uttar Pradesh

Medium
sandstone
Measurements
Overall: 73 x 40.6 cm (28 3/4 x 16 in.)
Credit Line
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1955.51
Public Domain
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Location
243 Indian and Southeast Asian
Print
?

Did You Know?

This sculpture is on the cover of the Penguin Classics edition of the Hindu "Laws of Manu."

Description

The Hindu god Agni, with flames rising behind him, is the figural form of the sacrificial fire, central to religious practice in India since the early second millennium BC. Agni’s mount is the goat, and together they preside over the Southeast. In the upper registers, Brahmans perform fire sacrifice, preach to disciples, and practice "hot yoga."
A gray-brown sandstone full-body sculpture depicts the god Agni with flames flaring behind his head and flanked on either side in four rows by figures a fifth of his size, then a third of his size at the base, including a goat and figures with human bodies and goat heads. He wears a crown and jewelry, has a mustache and small pointed beard, with his left arm hanging down and the other broken off at the elbow.

Agni, God of Fire

c. 1000

India, Uttar Pradesh

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