The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Shiva as Lord of Music

Shiva as Lord of Music

c. 1000
(900-13th century)
bronze
Overall: 76.5 x 45 cm (30 1/8 x 17 11/16 in.); Base: 26 x 25 cm (10 1/4 x 9 13/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1971.117
Location: 244 Indian and Southeast Asian

Description

After he created the world, Shiva manifested himself in a variety of ways, each of which emphasized a different aspect of his all-encompassing, complex personality. As Lord of Music, he is serene and beneficent. He holds a stringed instrument called the vina, which is missing in this example, but the fingers of his lowered hands are in the position of playing it. His other two attributes in this form are the axe and the rearing antelope, which references knowledge of the Vedic texts, which are the foundational books of the Hindu religion. Music was considered to be an essential component of sacred learning, and its rhythms reflect the structures of the ongoing creation of the universe.
  • ?–1971
    (Doris Wiener Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1971–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1971.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 59, no. 1, 1972, pp. 3–46. Reproduced: p. 26, no. 177; Mentioned: p. 47, no. 177 25152412
    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
    Dehejia, Vidya. Art of the Imperial Cholas. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990. Mentioned: pp. 66-69; Reproduced: p. 69, pl. 52
    Branfoot, Crispin. "Processions and Presence: Bronze Sculptures from the Temples of Southern India." Arts of Asia vol. 36 no. 6 (2006). Reproduced: p. 66, fig. 5
    Dehejia, Vidya. Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India. London, UK: Royal Academy of Arts, 2006. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 7, pp. 68–71
    Locke, Adrian K. "Divine Beauty: Sacred Medieval Bronzes from Southern India." Minerva vol. 18 no. 1 (January-February 2007). Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 23, fig. 4
  • 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).
    The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 6-September 14, 2003).
    Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
  • {{cite web|title=Shiva as Lord of Music|url=false|author=|year=c. 1000|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.117