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Shiva Nataraja
c. 1100 - c. 1200
- Medium
- bronze (metal)
- Classification
- sculpture
- Dimensions
- height 153 cm x width 114.5 cm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Credit line
- On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (purchase with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, 1935)
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
About this work
Shiva, in his manifestation as Nataraja (King of Dancers), represented in the anandatandava pose and encircled by a halo of fire, is both the creator and destroyer of the world. Beneath his foot is a dwarf, symbolizing ignorance. Richly decorated bronze figures of Hindu gods were carried in procession on feast days. Carrying poles were inserted through the rings on the base.
