Neeto Kali
The goddess Nitya Kali with extended red tongue, her youthful face surrounded by a red halo emitting a yellow radiance, dancing on the prostrate figure of Shiva on a tiger skin rug, who grasps one of her feet whilst gazing up from his tiger skin-covered mountain abode. The four-armed goddess is painted in dark blue and framed, mandola-like, by her long black hair. She wields a butchering sword in her raised left hand and holds a severed head in her lower hand, from which a crow drinks the dripping blood. A second severed head is cast down before her. Nitya in colloquial Bengali equates to Sanskrit nritya, ‘dance’, ‘dancing’. Inscribed in Bengali and English (incorrectly transcribed as “Meeto”).
Artwork Details
- Title: Neeto Kali
- Date: early 20th century
- Culture: India, West Bengal
- Medium: Gouache and ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 8 7/16 × 7 1/16 in. (21.5 × 18 cm)
Framed: 14 3/8 × 12 13/16 in. (36.5 × 32.5 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, by Exchange, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.468
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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India, West Bengal
early 20th century
India, West Bengal
early 20th century
India, West Bengal
early 20th century
India, West Bengal
early 20th century
India, West Bengal
early 20th century
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