id: 140437 accession number: 1964.369 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.369 updated: 2022-09-22 10:05:23.662000 A Guardian of Shiva, 1200s. Southwestern India, Karnataka. Chloritic schist; overall: 113.3 x 49.2 x 29 cm (44 5/8 x 19 3/8 x 11 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1964.369 title: A Guardian of Shiva title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1200s creation date earliest: 1200 creation date latest: 1299 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Southwestern India, Karnataka technique: Chloritic schist department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 113.3 x 49.2 x 29 cm (44 5/8 x 19 3/8 x 11 7/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions opening date: 1966-09-10T04:00:00 Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966). title: Yoga: The Art of Transformation opening date: 2013-10-19T04:00:00 Yoga: The Art of Transformation. Smithsonian Institution Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC (organizer) (October 19, 2013-January 26, 2014); Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 21-May 25, 2014); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 22-September 7, 2014). title: Artlens Exhibition 2017 opening date: 2017-06-24T04:00:00 Artlens Exhibition 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24, 2017-May 29, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (William H. Wolff [1906-1991], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1964 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1964- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: A three-hooded cobra winds its way up the shaft, while another slithers through the sockets of the skull. digital description: Guardians at Shiva temples sometimes appear as a form of the deity himself. Carved in the ornate style favored by kings of the Hoyshala dynasty (1026–1343), this four-armed figure holds a drum that indicates the ongoing passage of time in his upper right hand. In his upper left hand, he holds a staff surmounted by a decomposing head of the god of creation, Brahma. The soft contours of the face, complete with third eye of knowledge, temper his ferocity and create a gently alluring figure. wall description: In Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva that were made in territories governed by rulers of the Hoysala dynasty (1026–1343), the entrance guardians appeared as a fierce form of the deity himself. In spite of his bulging eyes, arched brows, and fangs, the soft contours of the face temper the ferocity and create a gently alluring figure. This exceptional example of the ornate Hoysala style is four-armed and has the third eye of knowledge. In his upper right hand he holds a drum that indicates the relentless rhythm of time, which inevitably consumes all creation. In the other, he holds a staff at the top of which is the decomposing fifth head of the god of creation, Brahma, which Shiva cut off to show his superior power. A three-hooded cobra winds its way up the shaft, while another slithers through the sockets of the skull. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS 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 Cleveland Museum of Art, “Golden Anniversary Acquisition,” 1966, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr1421 Stechow, Wolfgang. "Cleveland's Golden Anniversary Acquisitions." Artnews 65, no. 5 (September 1966): 30-64. page number: Reproduced p. 31, mentioned p. 64 url: 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. 236 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n260 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. 300 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n320 Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. NY: Columbia University Press, 2002. page number: Reproduced: p. 212, fig. 12 url: Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. page number: Reproduced: fig. 12 url: Diamond, Debra, and Molly Emma Aitken. Yoga: The Art of Transformation. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2013. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 1B, pp. 108-109 url: 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: P. 209 url: Larson, Kay. "Yoga: The Art of Transformation." Curator: The Museum Journal 57, no. 3 (July 2014): 363-373. page number: Reproduced: p. 367, photo 4 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1964.369/1964.369_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1964.369/1964.369_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1964.369/1964.369_full.tif