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Mar 9, 2007

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Mar 9, 2007

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Shiva and Parvati

c. 950–60

South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period

(900-13th Century)

Bronze

Base: 21.6 x 79.5 x 24.9 cm (8 1/2 x 31 5/16 x 9 13/16 in.); Part 1: 81.9 x 48.7 cm (32 1/4 x 19 3/16 in.); Part 2: 65.1 x 16.5 cm (25 5/8 x 6 1/2 in.)

Weight: 39.236 kg (86.5 lbs.)

John L. Severance Fund 1961.94

Location

244 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did you know?

The posts on the sides of the pedestal once supported a halo that surrounded both figures.

Description

Bronze sculptures made during the Chola period (800s–1200s) are among the most celebrated and popular art forms of the Indian tradition, and the 10th century marks their flourishing peak. The sensual renditions of attenuated, youthful, and athletic forms are barely covered by garments and ornaments that move, yet cling to the bodies. The figures stand with a natural ease, and the volumes have been so skillfully rendered by the artists that they appear to be capable of walking the earth. Their serene and smiling expressions are completely idealized, leaving no mistake that these are gods, not humans.

Provenance

?–1961

(William H. Wolff [1906–1991], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1961–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review 1961.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 48, no. 9, 1961, pp. 219–251. Mentioned: no. 49, p. 220, 249; Reproduced: no. 49, p. 221 www.jstor.org

"Annual Report for 1961.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 49, no. 6, 1962, pp. 115–145. Mentioned: p. 130

Master Bronzes of India: The Art Institute of Chicago ... [et al]. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1965. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 26

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 235 archive.org

National Gallery of Canada, and Expo (International Exhibitions Bureau). Terre Des Hommes: Exposition Internationale Des Beaux-Arts, 28 Avril-27 Octobre 1967 [ = Man and His World, International Fine Arts Exhibition, Expo 67, Montreal, Canada, 28 April-27 October 1967]. Montréal: Expo 67, 1967. pp. 352–353, no. 167

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 235 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 299 archive.org

Kramrisch, Stella. Manifestations of Shiva. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 100, pp. 122–123

Dehejia, Vidya, Richard H. Davis, Irā Nākacāmi, and Karen Pechilis. The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. New York: American Federation of Arts, 2002. Reproduced: cat. no. 5, pp. 106 (back) and 107 (front)

Fernando, Christopher, Vivian Kung Haga, and Chantal Legros. Beyond Beauty: What Is Real Beauty?. San Diego, CA: Museum of Photographic Arts, 2005. Reproduced

Branfoot, Crispin. "Processions and Presence: Bronze Sculptures from the Temples of Southern India." Arts of Asia vol. 36 no. 6 (2006). Reproduced: p. 71, fig. 10

Dehejia, Vidya. Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2006. Reproduced: cat. no. 3, pp. 52-55

Locke, Adrian K. "Divine Beauty: Sacred Medieval Bronzes from Southern India." Minerva vol. 18 no. 1 (January-February 2007): p. 22. Reproduced: p. 22, fig. 3

Donaldson, Thomas E. Síva-Pārvatī and Allied Images: Their Iconography and Body Language. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld, 2007. Mentioned: fig. 216, pp. 261 and 278; Reproduced: fig. 216, p. 261

Dehejia, Vidya. The Body Adorned: Dissolving Boundaries between Sacred and Profane in India's Art. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Reproduced: p. 117, fig. 37

Dehejia, Vidya. The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Sacred Bronzes from Chola India, 855-1280. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 14-16, 109-110

Exhibition history

Shiva and His Many Incarnations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (6/24/2007).

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

Master Bronzes of India. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (September 3-October 10, 1965); William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, MO (October 21-December 19, 1965); The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 19-February 27, 1966); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (October 12-December 11, 1966).

Man and His World. Expo 67, Montreal, Canada (organizer) (April 27-October 28, 1967).

Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-December 8, 1996).

The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC (November 10, 2002-March 9, 2003); The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (April 4-June 15, 2003); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 6-September 14, 2003).

Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 11, 2006-February 25, 2007).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Shiva and Parvati|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.94|year=c. 950–60|access-date=10 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Shiva and Parvati

Shiva and Parvati

South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period

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