Work Record
Class [controlled]:
• sculpture • Asian art
*Work
Type [link]:
• statue
*Title:
Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja)
*Creator
Display: unknown Indian
*Role
[link]: sculptor [link]: unknown
Indian
*Creation
Date: ca. 11th century [controlled]:
• Earliest:
0975 • Latest: 1125
*Subject
[links]: • religion and mythology •
Shiva (Hindu deity) • Nataraja (Lord
of the Dance) • human figure •
male
Style [link]:
Chola
Culture [link]:
Indian (South Asian)
*Current
Location [link]: Metropolitan
Museum of Art (New York, New York, United States)
• ID:
1987.80.1
Creation Location
[link]: Southern India
*Measurements:
68.3 cm (height) (26 7/8 inches ); 56.5 cm (diameter)
(22 1/4 inches)
[controlled]: • Value:
68.3 Unit:
cm Type: height
| • Value:
56.5 Unit:
cm Type: diameter
*Materials
and Techniques: copper alloy, lost-wax
process
Material [links]:
• copper alloy Technique
[links]: • lost-wax process
Description: Shiva
as Lord of the Dance with a Flaming Body Halo. In
his dance of ecstasy Shiva raised his left leg,
and, in a gesture known as the "gaja hasta," pointed
to his lifted leg to provide refuge for the troubled
soul. He thus imparted the lesson that through belief
in him, the soul of mankind can be transported from
the bondage of illusion and ignorance to salvation
and eternal serenity. Encircling Shiva is a flaming
body halo ("prabhamandala," or surrounding effulgence)
that not only establishes the visual limits of this
complex and dynamic composition but also symbolizes
the boundaries of the cosmos.
Description Source
[link]: Metropolitan Museum of Art online.
www.metmuseum.org
Page: accessed
21 December 2006
Required and recommended elements are marked with an asterisk. |
