Leaf from a Kalighat album: The Goddess Kali (recto); Kali Standing on Shiva (verso)
Unknown Artist
c. 1890
Medium
Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper
Dimensions
49.7 × 29.3 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
Accession Number
2003.110
About this artwork
Black-skinned, four-armed, her tongue out, and blood dripping from her mouth, Kali has a third eye—representative of enlightened or divine knowledge—on her forehead. Simultaneously benevolent and dangerous, she holds a sword and a demon’s severed head in two hands while the other two hands are in gestures of protection and blessing. This image would have been sold as a pilgrim souvenir to both locals and the colonial British around the Kalighat temple and is a replica of the image worshipped ins...