id: 162518 accession number: 2003.157.a share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2003.157.a updated: 2022-01-04 17:31:48.746000 Sheetaladevi: The Smallpox Goddess (recto), c. 1890. Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat. Watercolor, graphite, ink, and tin on paper; secondary support: 46.9 x 29.8 cm (18 7/16 x 11 3/4 in.); painting only: 45.5 x 27.7 cm (17 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward 2003.157.a title: Sheetaladevi: The Smallpox Goddess (recto) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1890 creation date earliest: 1875 creation date latest: 1895 current location: creditline: Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward copyright: --- culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat technique: Watercolor, graphite, ink, and tin on paper department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Secondary Support: 46.9 x 29.8 cm (18 7/16 x 11 3/4 in.); Painting only: 45.5 x 27.7 cm (17 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Indian Kalighat Paintings opening date: 2011-05-01T00:00:00 Indian Kalighat Paintings. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 1-September 18, 2011). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William E. Ward [1922-2004], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-2003 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2003- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Sheetala, the smallpox goddess, is simultaneously benevolent and dangerous: she can both protect and infect, bless and curse devotees with smallpox and other diseases. Persons scarred by smallpox are believed to have been graced by her. She is appeased so that she does not infect her worshippers. Her name, Sheetala, “Cool One,” refers to her birth out of a cooled sacrificial fire. The rippled curtains above her are suggestive of theatrical tableau and Sheetalapala (The Drama of Sheetala) that was performed in Bengal. She sits astride her vehicle (vahana), the donkey, regarded as an inauspicious animal. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2003.157.a/2003.157.a_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2003.157.a/2003.157.a_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2003.157.a/2003.157.a_full.tif