Shiva and his family / India, Punjab Hills, Kangra School
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1942.4
- Title
- Shiva and his family
- Artist Nationality
- Indian
- Medium and Support
- ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1790-1800
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- India (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- India (nation)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. Walter R. Parker
- Style/Group/Movement
- Pahari
- Dimensions
- 19.3 cm x 13.7 cm (7 5/8 in. x 5 3/8 in.)
- Century
- 18th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- album leaf
- Secondary Object Classification
- Painting
- Secondary Object Type
- narrative painting
- Physical Description
- In this idyllic scene, the goddess Parvati offers her husband Shiva a drink, as they enjoy a quiet moment together. Their children, the elephant-headed Ganesha and Skanda, play inside a tent made from the hide of an elephant demon that Shiva had slain. Both parents are clothed in animal skins, the garb of mountain-dwelling ascetics, while Shiva is further adorned with a long necklace of skulls and a snake.
- Subject Matter
- The narrative and iconographical elements of this scene alludes to multiple aspects of Shiva’s character—as lover, family man, destroyer of evil, and supreme practitioner of austerities—but, as is typical of Kangra painting, the overall mood is one of tranquility and domestic harmony.
- Kangra was a small Rajput state in the Punjab Hills, which lie at the foot of the Himalaya in the far north of India. From the mid-eighteenth century, artists in this region began to adapt certain features of European painting, as filtered through Mughal painting. That impact is seen here in the naturalistic palette and treatment of forms, especially the animals and tree.
- Primary Keywords
- children (offspring)
- children and adults
- deity
- elephant
- elephants
- family (group)
- family (sociological concept)
- hinduism
- oxen
- shiva
- tent
- Secondary Keywords
- animals
- animals and creatures
- associated concepts
- branches
- groups of people
- hindu
- kinship groups
- mammals
- named gods and goddesses
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by age group
- people by family relationship
- people by state or condition
- religion
- religions
- social groups
- social science concepts
- social structure
- sociological concepts
- subject matter
- tents
- the natural world
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 695 x 985
- File Size
- 74 KB
- Record
- 1942.4
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1942.4/1942.4.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1942.4:1942.4.JPG
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- Full citation
-
"Shiva and his family; India, Punjab Hills, Kangra School." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1942.4/1942.4.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.