Devi vanquishes the demon Nisumbha and his armies; folio from a Devi Mahatmya series.
This painting depicts a scene of violent conflict and death inspired by events described in the Devi Mahatmya ("In praise of the Goddess"). In the center of the composition is Devi in the guise of the ten-armed Durga, helmeted and dressed in chain-mail armor and riding her lion-mount (here a tiger), decapitating the green-bodied demon Nisumbha, whose human form emerges from the severed neck. Enraged by the death of his brother, the nearly identical figure of Shumbha races toward Durga but will also be slain. Durga has summoned up her dreadful form Kali, whose black famished form, wrapped in a leopard skin, instills terror in the demon troops who flee in disarray. On her left is Narasimhi, the six-headed Kaumari seated on her peacock, consort of the god of war. Above her is Mahesvari, the three-eyed goddess who embodies Shiva’s power, poised astride her bull Nandin. Behind her is an ashen face with upturned eyes, perhaps that of Yogishvari, another expression of Shiva’s shakti. At the upper left are the three airborne goddesses, Vaishnavi atop her eagle mount Garuda, Brahmani on her white goose, and Indrani seated upon her white elephant, Airvata. To the right of Indrani’s elephant we glimpse the boar-headed form of Varahi. These goddesses constitute the ashta-matrikas, the eight mother goddesses.
Artwork Details
- Title: Devi vanquishes the demon Nisumbha and his armies; folio from a Devi Mahatmya series.
- Date: 18th century
- Culture: India, Guler, Himachal Pradesh
- Medium: Opaque pigments with gold on paper, with gilt-decorated blue margin and pink speckled border
- Dimensions: Image (painting): 6 15/16 × 9 in. (17.7 × 22.8 cm)
Image (folio): 9 13/16. × 12 in. (25 × 30.5 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, by Exchange and The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.331
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Northern India, Guler, Himachal Pradesh
ca. 1740
Manaku
ca. 1725
Nainsukh
ca. 1760–65
India, Deccan, Aurangabad (?)
late 18th century
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