Mother Goddess

c. 600

Medium
schist
Classification
Sculpture
Dimensions
Overall: 79.4 x 23.2 cm (31 1/4 x 9 1/8 in.)
Culture
Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Udaipur District
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Sets of mother goddesses were installed in shrines near the entrance to Hindu temples. From one of the most naturalistic and charming sets, this mother attentively grasps the wrist of her toddler to gently guide him, while smiling lovingly and patiently at him. The simplicity of garments and ornament is characteristic of sculpture of the sixth century, and the naturalistic qualities of this work from northwestern India suggest connections with the Greco-Roman styles of Gandhara, in present-day Pakistan.