STATUE DE DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE AVEC TRACES DE POLYCHROMIE

Inde, province d'Assam, XVIIe siècle

Footnotes

The ten-armed Durga assumes the form of Mahishasuramardini, the Slayer of Mahisha, the buffalo demon. She stands triumphantly over the doomed Mahisha, who had disguised himself as a buffalo to attack her. She has one foot on her mount, the lion, and the other on the decapitated buffalo, from which has emerged the figure of Mahisha, sword raised in defiance but subdued by the lion's restraining grip. The sculptor masterfully conveys both the kinetic energy of the battle and the divine composure of the goddess, whose serene expression contrasts with the dynamic ferocity of her stance. Holes in the base indicate the presence of a separately cast aureole, now missing.

Durga is the ultimate protector of devotees, the embodiment of shakti, or divine feminine energy, and the fierce manifestation of Parvati, consort of Shiva. The male Hindu gods gave her their combined power by supplying her with the weapons to kill this demon, thereby restoring balance to the universe.

Durga is particularly revered in Northeast India. The region has a long tradition of goddess and nature worship long before the advent of Brahmanical Hinduism. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Durga Puja festival had become a key religious and political event, celebrated in royal courts as an affirmation of prosperity, legitimacy, and the goddess's enduring power.

The style of the composition dates to the Pala dynasty (9th–12th century) of Northeast India. For comparison, see a 12th-century bronze figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 2020.399).

Provenance
Galerie De Ruimte, Eersel, 1986
Private Collection, Belgium, acquired from the above;
Thence by descent.

印度 阿薩姆邦 十七世紀 屠牛魔者難近母銅像

來源
Galerie De Ruimte，埃爾塞爾，1986年
比利時私人收藏，購於上者
後由家族傳承