Durga Slaying Mahisha
Unknown Artist
c. 1830
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
17.7 × 27.5 cm · image: 15.8 × 25.3 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
Accession Number
1955.667
About this artwork
According to the text dedicated to the exploits of the great goddess Devi in her various forms, there was a time in the mythic past when a buffalo demon was ravaging the world. Storm clouds swirl above and dust below him. The goddess in her warrior aspect in which she is named Durga rides a chariot pulled by two leonine tigers with blue skies and flowering trees above her. The two are about to clash in a bloody battle that will take place on the gently sloping hillside evocative of the western H...