NARRATOR:
In this charming family of Hindu gods, father, mother, and child look out at us with expressive gestures that make them seem alive. The dominant figure is Shiva. He's identified by his tall crown of matted hair. He sits in the relaxed posture of a god. His lower right hand is poised in the gesture of fearlessness. Viewed as a destroyer, Shiva represents the eternal cycles of death and regeneration. The deer in his upper left hand reminds us that Shiva is lord of nature.
The slim-waisted woman is Shiva's wife, Uma. She's also known as Parvati or Durga. Both she and Shiva are draped in ornate fabric, decorated with bands of circles, triangles, and a meandering scroll motif—a design thought to be the hallmark of the anonymous bronze master who made this piece.
Flanked protectively by his parents is the tiny figure of the naked child-god Skanda. He assumes a dancing position. According to Sanscrit myths, he amused his parents with his antics. His diminutive size, position behind his parents' limbs and the lotus bud he holds suggest that he's not yet reached his status as god of war. But he does retain a certain eminence. Skanda is placed on the same level as his parents, as he is in all images from Tamil Nadu, in southern India.
This joyous group was made during the great Chola period of Southern Indian history and art, dating from about 880 to 1270.
Look around this room, and you'll see that the harmony, balance, animation, and gentle sensuousness of this sculpture are characteristic of 10th-century Chola-Period bronzes.
Shiva with Uma and Skanda (Somaskanda)
950-975
Asia: India, Tamil Nadu
On View
One of the greatest patrons of tenth century Chola art was Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi. Widowed at a young age, she lived most of her life as a dowager queen. From 941 until her death in 1006, she sponsored the building of numerous stone temples throughout the Cholas’ realm. The bronze workshop that Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi established continued to produce some of the finest iconic images of the Chola period, of which this sculpture is an example. The pattern of the fabric worn by Shiva and Parvati, articulated by bands of circles, triangles and scrolls, is identical to images attributed to Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi’s workshop.
Details
- Title: Shiva with Uma and Skanda (Somaskanda)
- Date: 950-975
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 23 x 27-1/2 x 14 in. (58.4 x 69.8 x 35.6 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.23.1.S
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Marg, fig. 4 pp. 56-58
- Dehejia, Vidya, Asian Art: Selections from the Norton Simon Museum, fig. 8 p. 41
- Pal, Pratapaditya, American Collectors of Asian Art, 1986, fig. 4 pp. 120, 122
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 1: Art from the Indian Subcontinent, 2003, fig. 23, no. 168a pp. 28, 222-224
- Donaldson, Thomas, Iconography and Body Language in Hara-Parvati and Allied Images (2 vols), 2004, fig.247
- Donaldson, Thomas, Iconography and Body Language in Hara-Parvati and Allied Images (2 vols), 2004, p. 309
- Ghose, Rajeshwari, Chidambaram Home of the Nataraja, 2004, fig. 3 p. 121
- Guy, John, Vidya Dehejia, et al, Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India, 2006, fig. 16 pp.29-30
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 823 p. 342
- Dehejia, Vidya, The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Chola Bronzes from South India, c. 855-1280, 2021, Fig. 4.12 pp. 106-109, p. 108 (ill.)
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