The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Four-armed goddess, with hearts in margin

1900s

Eastern India, Bihar, Mithila region

ink and color on paper
Overall: 36.2 x 27 cm (14 1/4 x 10 5/8 in.)
Gift of Pamela Elizabeth Ward in loving memory of her parents, William E. and Evelyn Svec Ward 2005.86
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Village women of rural northeastern India create the distinctive paintings known as "Madhubani."

Description

This goddess holds a lotus flower and a discus, along with two other unidentified objects. Historically, Madhubani paintings were murals created with brushes made of bamboo and cotton. They ornamented domestic spaces on the occasion of a festival or rite of passage in a woman's life, such as a birth or a wedding. In the wake of a drought in 1966, the All India Handicrafts Board encouraged women of the Mithila region make paintings on paper, so they could sell them and help support their communities.
  • ?–2005
    William E. Ward [1922–2004] and Ellen Svec Ward [1921–1989], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2005–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Four-armed goddess, with hearts in margin|url=false|author=|year=1900s|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.86