id: 150048 accession number: 1980.26 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.26 updated: 2023-03-14 10:01:07.052000 Monkey General Hanuman, c. 1000. Southern India, Chola period (900s–1200s). Bronze; height: 58.4 cm (23 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1980.26 title: Monkey General Hanuman title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1000 creation date earliest: 990 creation date latest: 1010 current location: 243 Indian and Southeast Asian creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Southern India, Chola period (900s–1200s) technique: bronze department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: height: 58.4 cm (23 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1980 opening date: 1981-06-24T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). title: The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India opening date: 2002-11-10T00:00:00 The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. Smithsonian Institution Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC (November 10, 2002-March 9, 2003); The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (April 4-June 15, 2003); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 6-September 14, 2003). title: Epic Tales from Ancient India: Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art opening date: 2017-07-09T04:00:00 Epic Tales from Ancient India: Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art. Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (organizer) (July 9-October 15, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?–1980 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1980– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Hanuman stands on a lotus pedestal with slightly upturned petals. digital description: wall description: Hanuman is one of the most popular heroic figures of the epic Ramayana. In the story, he was indispensable in the search for the abducted wife of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu. He is able to fly through the air and lift mountains, but here he is shown as a humble servant of the god. His gestures signify his humility and he bows slightly in reverence to his master.

Bronzes during the Chola period spanning the 800s to 1200s were solid cast, using the lost-wax method. Each one is unique and would have been kept in the treasury of the temple until the festival day when the presence of the deity is invited to reside in the sculpture, which is then bathed, dressed, and paraded through the streets. This figure would have been paraded with a group of other images depicting Rama, his wife, and his brother. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (1981): 163–219. page number: Mentioned: no. 290, pp. 164 and 219; Reproduced: no. 290, p. 201. url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159730 Dehejia, Vidya. The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. New York: American Federation of Arts, 2002. page number: Mentioned: pp. 189–190, no. 48; Reproduced: pp. 192–193. url: Czuma, Stanislaw J., "A Procession of the Gods", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 43 no. 06, Summer 2003 page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 4-5 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2003-06/page/n3 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.26/1980.26_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.26/1980.26_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.26/1980.26_full.tif