Ganesha and Sarasvati

Currently not on view

Ganesha and Sarasvati

c. 1720

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

This opening page of a series depicts elephant-headed Ganesha, who blesses new undertakings, and Sarasvati, the Goddess of Learning and the Arts. It began a vertically oriented and richly illustrated series of the Bhagavata Purana (Story of the Lord Vishnu). Sarasvati holds a pothi, a horizontal religious manuscript, in one of her four hands and a rosary, used for reciting the names of the god, in another. Although she faces toward Ganesha, the deities do not interact but appear as individual icons for worship, each enshrined among flowers in one niche of an elaborate arcade.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Ganesha and Sarasvati
Opening page of a dispersed series of the Bhagavata Purana (Story of the Lord Vishnu)

Date:

c. 1720

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 9 1/4 × 7 1/2 inches (23.5 × 19.1 cm) Sheet: 10 1/4 × 8 3/4 inches (26 × 22.2 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Stella Kramrisch Collection, 1994

Accession Number:

1994-148-469

Geography:

Made in Gujarat, India, Asia Probably made in Surat, Gujarat, India, Asia

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Currently not on view