Manuscript Cover with Vishnu Flanked by Lakshmi and Sarasvati
This cover depicts a standing four-armed Vishnu mounted on Garuda, his half-man, half-bird vehicle. Vishnu is flanked on the right by his wife Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and on the left by Sarasvati, the goddess of learning and wisdom, who sometimes appears as Vishnu's consort. Three of Vishnu's four hands hold his usual martial attributes, which he uses when he aids devotees in need: the discus, club, and conch shell (used to call troops). His fourth hand makes the gesture of teaching (dharmachakramudra). Lakshmi can be identified by the vase and lotus she holds. The four-armed Sarasvati can be identified by the rosary and book she holds in her upper hands and by the musical instrument she cradles in her lower hands. The deities' round faces and pronounced chins as well as the tone-on-tone scrolling vines between each deity are stylistically typically Nepalese.
Artwork Details
- Title: Manuscript Cover with Vishnu Flanked by Lakshmi and Sarasvati
- Date: 14th century
- Culture: Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)
- Medium: Distemper on wood
- Dimensions: Overall: 1 7/8 x 13 1/16 in. (4.7 x 33.2 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Richard and Peggy Danziger, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.494.2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Kitaharasa
likely 1379
Nepal, Kathmandu Valley
equivalent to February / March 1322
Nepal
ca. 1100
Nepal
late 11th–early 12th century
China
ca. 1319
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