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Shiva and Parvati with their Sons Karttikeya and Ganesha and the Calf Bull

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The sculpture depicts four main figures. A man and woman stand side-by-side as the central focus. The man is on the left; he is bare-chested with a crown on his head. He has long hair in thick wavy locks. The man wears a short cloth around his waist with a wide decorative belt and holds a staff in his right hand. A long object hangs from his left hand. A bull with its head lowered stands beside the man; the bull has a rope wrapped around its body that extends to the base of the sculpture. The woman on the right wears a long tunic and a crown on her head, and she has long hair partly covering her shoulders. A long object extends upward from her right hand. Her left hand is raised and open. On either side of the central figures are two smaller male figures. The male to the left of the woman holds a large object in both hands. The sculpture's base consists of stacked horizontal slabs. The background behind the figures fades from dark to light gray.

Artwork Details

Date
9th century
Medium
Stone
Culture
India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir)
Dimensions
500 × 625 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette