{
"data": {
"id": 111811,
"accession_number": "1930.331",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Nataraja, Shiva as the Lord of Dance, 1000s. South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period (900\u20131200s). Bronze; overall: 113 x 102 x 30 cm (44 1/2 x 40 3/16 x 11 13/16 in.); base: 35 x 24 cm (13 3/4 x 9 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1930.331",
"current_location": "244 Indian and Southeast Asian",
"title": "Nataraja, Shiva as the Lord of Dance",
"creation_date": "1000s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1000,
"creation_date_latest": 1099,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period (900\u20131200s)"
],
"technique": "Bronze",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Overall: 113 x 102 x 30 cm (44 1/2 x 40 3/16 x 11 13/16 in.); Base: 35 x 24 cm (13 3/4 x 9 7/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 1.13,
"height_inch": 44,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5,
"width": 1.02,
"width_inch": 40,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.1875,
"depth": 0.3,
"depth_inch": 11,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.8125
},
"base": {
"width": 0.35,
"width_inch": 13,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.75,
"depth": 0.24,
"depth_inch": 9,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.4375
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 312341,
"title": "The Silver Jubilee Exhibition",
"description": "The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).",
"opening_date": "1941-06-23T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 355438,
"title": "Exhibition of the Month: Jewelry of India",
"description": "Exhibition of the Month: Jewelry of India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 1-June 2, 1947).",
"opening_date": "1947-04-01T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 700713,
"title": "Indian and Indonesian Bronze",
"description": "Indian and Indonesian Bronze. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (organizer) (November 2-30, 1955).",
"opening_date": "1955-11-02T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 300857,
"title": "Art: The International Language",
"description": "Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).",
"opening_date": "1956-10-02T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 300801,
"title": "Master Bronzes of India",
"description": "Master Bronzes of India. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (September 3-October 10, 1965); William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, MO (October 21-December 19, 1965); The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 19-February 27, 1966); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (October 12-December 11, 1966).",
"opening_date": "1965-09-03T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 302145,
"title": "Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture",
"description": "Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).",
"opening_date": "1975-09-24T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 309885,
"title": "Sacred India",
"description": "Sacred India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1985-January 12, 1986).",
"opening_date": "1985-11-05T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 311444,
"title": "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum",
"description": "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).",
"opening_date": "1991-06-07T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 311878,
"title": "Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music",
"description": "Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-December 8, 1996).",
"opening_date": "1996-09-24T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 213005,
"title": "The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India",
"description": "The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 6-September 14, 2003).",
"opening_date": "2002-11-10T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 181802,
"title": "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"description": "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).",
"opening_date": "2006-06-09T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 222425,
"title": "Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India",
"description": "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).",
"opening_date": "2006-11-11T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Art of the United Nations. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (November 6-Decmber 31, 1944).",
"opening_date": "1944-11-06T04:00:00Z"
},
{
"description": "Masterpieces of Sculpture, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (November 1-December 11, 1949). Cat. no. 11, pl. 157 in Bulletin of Minneapolis Institute of Arts, November 5, 1949.",
"opening_date": "1949-11-01T05:00:00Z"
},
{
"description": "Art of Greater India. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (March 1-April 16, 1950). Cat. no. 69, pl. 69.",
"opening_date": "1950-03-01T05:00:00Z"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(C.T. Loo \u76e7\u82b9\u9f4b [1880\u20131957], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131930",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1930-",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [
"257.30"
],
"did_you_know": "The trampled figure holds a serpent in his left hand and with his right points up to Shiva.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "One of the most celebrated sculptural forms in the history of Indian art, this elegant and dynamic figure embodies some of Hinduism\u2019s most fundamental tenets. According to Hindu thought, time is cyclical; the world is created, maintained, preserved for a time, then destroyed, only to be created again an infinite number of times. For those Hindus who view Shiva to be the all-powerful creator divinity, he is responsible for both creation and destruction. The ring of fire and the tongue of flame he holds in his left hand refer to destruction, and the drum in his raised right hand refers to the relentless beat of time as it moves inevitably forward. His lower right hand, held up with the palm facing out, signals to his devotees not to be afraid of the impending destruction; they can be liberated from the cycles of birth and death through devotion to him, which he indicates by pointing to his upraised foot. With every step in his dance, he lands on a dwarfish figure personifying ignorance.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60762150"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1930.331-nataraja-shiva-as-th"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Hollis, Howard Conley. \u201cNataraja, Lord of the Dance.\u201d The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 8 (October 1930): 148\u2013151.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 148\u2013151",
"url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25137325"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 761",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n137"
},
{
"citation": "Master Bronzes of India: The Art Institute of Chicago ... [et al]. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1965.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 30",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 236",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n260"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 235",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n259"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 299",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n319"
},
{
"citation": "Czuma, Stanislaw J., \"Eternal Rhythms\" , Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 36 no. 08, October 1996",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 8",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM1996-08/page/8"
},
{
"citation": "Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 146\u2013147",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Connell, Timothy C., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World Art Transparencies. Cincinnati: West Educational Pub, 1998.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: Acetate 19",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Fichner-Rathus, Lois. Understanding Art. Fifth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: no. 18- 30, p. 486",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Murphey, Rhoads. A History of Asia. 3rd Edition. New York: Longman, 1999.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 122",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Michell, George. Hindu Art and Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: fig. 114, p. 130",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 98, pp. 88\u201389, 119",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Preble, Duane, Sarah Preble, and Patrick Frank. Artforms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: no. 469, p. 324",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Getlein, Mark. Gilbert's Living with Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 9, fig. 1.9",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Fiero, Gloria K. Prehistory to the Early Modern World. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2002.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: Fig. 14.2, p. 323",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Palmedo, Philip F., and Bill Barrett. Bill Barrett: Evolution of a Sculptor. New York: Hudson Hills, 2003.",
"page_number": "p. 29",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Dehejia, Vidya. Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India. London, UK: Royal Academy of Arts, 2006.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: pp. 46\u201347, cat. no. 1",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Sims, Lowery S. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.",
"page_number": "Reproduced. p. 30; Mentioned: p. 116, no. 17",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Buser, Thomas. Experiencing Art Around Us. Second edition. Australia: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 69, fig. 3-14",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Fiero, Gloria K. Faith, Reason, and Power in the Early Modern World. The Humanistic Tradition. Book 4. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2006.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 146, fig. 14.2",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Branfoot, Crispin. \"Processions and Presence: Bronze Sculptures from the Temples of Southern India.\" Arts of Asia vol. 36 no. 6 (2006).",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 61, fig. 1",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Knight. Elizabeth. \"The Art and Science of Chola Bronzes,\" Orientations 37, no 8. (2006).",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 47, fig. 1",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Dittmar, Peter. \"Dies gewisse L\u00e4cheln\u2026\" Weltkunst 15 (2006).",
"page_number": null,
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Donley, Gregory M. \"Geometric Means.\" Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 46, no. 5 (May/June 2006): 3\u20137.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 3",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2006-05/page/2/mode/2up"
},
{
"citation": "\"Sacred Bronzes of Southern India.\" The Asian Art Newspaper: Monthly for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries. October 2006.",
"page_number": "p. 12",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Sims, Lowery Stokes. The persistence of geometry: form, content, and culture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 116; Reproduced: p. 30, no. 17",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "\"Chola. Heilige Bronzen aus S\u00fcdindien\" Weltkunst issue 15, (December 2006)",
"page_number": "p. 87",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Dehejia, Vidya. Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2006.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: cat. no. 1, pp. 46\u201347",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Locke, Adrian K. \"Divine Beauty: Sacred Medieval Bronzes from Southern India.\" Minerva vol. 18 no. 1 (January-February 2007).",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 24, fig. 7.",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Markbreiter, Robin. \"Asian Art in London at the Royal Academy of Arts.\" Arts of Asia vol. 37 no. 1 (January-February 2007).",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 132",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 86\u201387",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Cothren, Michael W. and Marilyn Stokstad. Art History. Fifth Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2014",
"page_number": "Reproduced: fig. 10-31, p. 322.",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 208\u2013209",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 37",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Dehejia, Vidya. The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Sacred Bronzes from Chola India, 855-1280. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2021.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 16\u201317",
"url": ""
}
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"creditline": "Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund",
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"sketchfab_id": "6862a3c673d4434a8dc39ced2a5b5720",
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"gallery_donor_text": "Nancy F. & Joseph P. Keithley Gallery",
"athena_id": 111811,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1930-06-19T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1000,
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"alternate_titles": [
"Nataraja, Shiva as the King of Dance",
"Nataraja: \u015aiva as King of Dance"
],
"is_highlight": true,
"updated_at": "2026-09-18 21:47:05.829000"
}
}