Page 36 - Highlights of the Collection
P. 36

Dancing Shiva



                                                                      India, Tamil Nadu, 950-1000
                                                                      H. 76.2 cm, bronze







                                                                      The subject of various iconographic forms in Hinduism,
                                                                      Shiva is here represented in a human yet fantastic
                                                                      configuration. An ambivalent god, he watches over
                                                                      his devotees and destroys the world at the end of a
                                                                      cosmic cycle, liberating the universe and doing away
                                                                      with ignorance. Among his many forms, this is one of
                                                                      the most renowned, that of the Lord of the Dance,
                                                                      or Nataraja.


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