The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Lovers (Mithuna)

Lovers (Mithuna)

1000s

Description

Erotic imagery was a standard element on sacred monuments in India. Idealized lovers signal the auspiciousness of birth, prosperity of life, and the abundance of the created world, indicating to worshippers at the temple that their offerings and prayers would be fruitful and productive. The exaggerated size of their eyes, linearity of the facial features and ornaments, and the impossible twisting of their limbs and her body create an unnatural stylization that heightens the intensity of the scene, as the two figures seem effortlessly unified in their embrace.
  • Pan Asian Collection
    1982
    (Robert H. Ellsworth [1929–2014], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 142-143
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: no. 99, pp. 89-90; Mentioned: p. 119
    Czuma, Stanislaw, "Great Acquisitions and Southeast Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art," Orientations (Jan/Feb 2005), vol. 36, no. 1. Reproduced: p. 85
    Macnab, Maggie. Decoding Design: Understanding and Using Symbols in Visual Communication: Discover the Hidden Meanings Inside Common Corporate Logos and Designs. Cincinnati, Ohio: HOW Books, 2008. Reproduced: Fig. 2.19
    Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Reproduced: pp. 84-85
  • Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).
    Rings: Five Passions in World Art. High Museum of Art (organizer) (July 4-September 29, 1996).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Lovers (Mithuna)|url=false|author=|year=1000s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.64