2006.240: Vignettes of Devotees Worshipping Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2006.240

Title

Vignettes of Devotees Worshipping Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting

Date

early 20th century

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India, Rajasthan

Culture

Indian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/317996

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Ink and opaque watercolor on paper

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Katherine Burton Jones

Accession Year

2006

Object Number

2006.240

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The page features three vignettes of worshippers venerating a member of the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti): Brahma, the god of creation; Vishnu, the god of preservation; and Shiva, the god of destruction. On the left, the blue-skinned Vishnu is depicted seated cross-legged on a lotus on top of his bird mount, Garuda. The god is shown with multiple heads and arms, which carry identifying attributes, like the conch shell. A large crown rests across all of his heads and a halo is behind them. Vishnu faces an elderly worshipper with a full, white beard, who sits cross-legged on a pink mat. He wears a red cap and a yellow dhoti, a garment worn by male Hindus that consists of a piece of fabric tied around the waist and extending to cover most of the legs. His hands are raised in veneration, palms facing upward. On the right, the red-skinned Brahmaa is seated cross-legged on a lotus on top of his mount, a hamsa, a swan or goose of Hindu mythology. He is depicted with multiple heads and arms, a large crown, and a halo. He carries a long trident. Brahma faces a worshipper nearly identical to Vishnu’s, except that he tends a small fire. At the bottom of the page is Shiva seated on his bull mount, Nandi. Shiva also is rendered with multiple heads and arms which carry different his identifying attributes, like the trident. He has a large halo with small rays emanating from it behind him. Shiva’s worshipper is an elderly, white-bearded figure wearing a turban and a yellow dhoti. He stands before Shiva, hands clasped in prayer. An tray of food as an offering is on the ground between the two figures. Rajput Style.

Publication History

• Stages of Depiction: Indian Drawings: 17th-19th Centuries, auct. cat., Hurst Gallery (Cambridge, 2006), pp 41, cat. 15

Verification Level