The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Kali on Shiva, from a Tantric Devi Series
c. 1810
Sheet: 20.3 x 26 cm (8 x 10 1/4 in.)
Gift of Nancy and Wayne Hunnicutt 2014.650
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
This Tantric Devi painting is from a series made in the Pahari Kingdom of Mandi. CMA also has another from the same series, 2020.431.Description
The goddess Kali kneels in the posture reserved for wrathful deities ready for battle. In one hand she holds the sword she used to sever the demon head she triumphantly grasps in another hand. As the personification of divine energy—shakti in Sanskrit—Kali appears active, while the male principle, personified as her consort Shiva, is like a corpse (shava).The scene is set in a cremation ground, complete with vultures, jackals, and bones. Contemplation of paintings such as this assists followers in overcoming fear of death. In this image, the dead body is overlaid with the dual principles of the divine in Hindu thought: male and female, passive and active, matter and energy, white and black, Shiva and Shakti.
- ?–1969Royal Library of Mandy, probably sold to Ludwig V. Habighorst1969-–2009Probably Ludwig V. Habighorst [b. 1935], GermanyMarch 18, 2009(Sotheby's, New York, NY, March 18, 2009, lot 77, sold to Nancy and Wayne Hunnicutt)2009–2014Nancy and Wayne Hunnicutt, California, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art2014–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHProvenance Footnotes1 Sold as one of "A Group of Five Illustrations of Manifestations of Devi". Property from a private German collection. Acquired from the Royal Library of Mandi in 1969.
- Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 242B). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 6-November 7, 2016).
- {{cite web|title=Kali on Shiva, from a Tantric Devi Series|url=false|author=|year=c. 1810|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2014.650