The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Durga Slaying Mahisha

Durga Slaying Mahisha

c. 1700–1710
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Overall: 15.5 x 21.2 cm (6 1/8 x 8 3/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1960.51
Location: not on view

Description

Durga is the name of the goddess who personifies the sum total of the powers of all the male gods combined. When she vanquishes the fierce buffalo demon named Mahisha, she is described as having many arms, each holding a different weapon: bow and arrow, trident, discus, shield, sword, mace, and the conch shell that sounds the start of battle. The horizontal lines on her arms are sectarian markings. At the moment depicted in this painting, she has succeeded in beheading the buffalo demon and shooting arrows into his true form that climbs from its neck. Artists in the foothills of the western Himalayas, where this work was made, depicted Durga’s mount as a tiger—lions and tigers had synonymous meaning throughout India as emblems of shakti, or divine creative energy.
  • ?-1960
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1960-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Asia Society, Sherman E. Lee, and George Montgomery. Rajput Painting; with an introductory essay and catalogue notes. New York: Asia House, 1960. Reproduced: p. 71; plate 66
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 239 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 239 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. 308 archive.org
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Reproduced: cat. no. 135
  • Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 242B). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 6-November 7, 2016).
    Sacred India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1985-January 12, 1986).
    The Art of India. Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (organizer) (April 7-30, 1961).
    Rajput Painting. Asia House, New York, NY (December 3, 1960-January 22, 1961).
    Rajput Painting. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 22, 1961).
    Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=Durga Slaying Mahisha|url=false|author=|year=c. 1700–1710|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.51