12. Pala Vishnu with Consorts

12. Pala Vishnu with Consorts
Copper
Height: 9.6 cm
Twelfth century
Catalogue number 12.
Accession number 88.390

This classical "bronze" of the Pala-Sena period depicts Vishnu with his consorts Sri and Saraswati, each on their separate lotus pedestals. Vishnu wears a tall, conical headdress and holds the traditional emblems in his four hands - discus, conchshell, lotus, and mace. Sri holds a lotus and Saraswati a musical instrument called veena. At the center of the stepped pedestal supporting these three figures is a figure of Garuda, the half-bird half-man emblem of Vishnu, easily recognized by his protruding beak and folded wings.


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