jueves, 19 de mayo de 2011

The Holy Family

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The Holy Family

Availability: Sólo Uno en la acción

Descripción

This painting, a large size canvas rendered using in characteristic Mysore art style colours for delineating figures and forms, and metal foils and beads, for ornaments and jewellery and for highlighting special areas, such as the border of sari, a canvas for a temple-wall, domestic shrine or drawing hall, represents the Shiva family known in the tradition as the holy family comprising Lord Shiva himself, his consort Parvati, two sons, Karttikeya and Ganesh, and the mounts of all four, Shiva’s Nandi, Parvati’s lion, Karttikeya’s peacock, and Ganesh’s mouse. The family sometimes also includes Virabhadra, Shiva’s manifestation born of his wrath, and Bana, an asura-devotee of Shiva, he loved and adopted as his son. A contemporary masterpiece, in its theme and style it reveals flavour of classicism especially in portraying the Himalayan ambience and in capturing the mood of the portrayed figures, demeanour of their mounts and the overall mythicism. The painting is outstanding in representing emotional disposition of each figure, Shiva, Parvati, Karttikeya or Ganesh, or their mounts.

The Shiva family is seated on a hill’s outcrop shaped like a couch around the Mount Kailash, Shiva’s permanent abode, which a cottage-like structured – thatched and raised, hill-part unambiguously suggests. Lord Shiva and Parvati are seated in the centre while their two sons, Karttikeya and Ganesh, flank on sides. On Parvati’s left is the six-faced Karttikeya carrying a bow and arrow, and on Shiva’s right, the elephant-faced four-armed Ganesh carrying a battle-axe, noose and a tray full of laddus, his chosen food, and the fourth, held in ‘abhaya’. Karttikeya’s mount peacock has been painted perching just below where Karttikeya is seated, while the tiny mouse of Ganesh has been represented as leaping and jumping around its master’s feet. Figures of both, Karttikeya and Ganesh, have been lavishly bejewelled with gold ornaments studded with precious stones – pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires among others. Karttikeya is wearing a crown composed of six apexes, each to cover one of his six faces. The crown of Ganesh is not so complicated. It comprises just one tower. Ganesh is putting on a yellow ‘antariya’ exactly like his father, while Karttikeya’s is reddish maroon having resemblance with his mother’s sari which except its border rendered in gold-zari has an identical dye.

The four-armed blue-bodied Shiva – Mangala-murti, the Blissful One, is seated with Parvati on his left. Strangely, save an armlet he does not have any gold on his person yet with an exceptional glow on his face he dominates the canvas. The artist has clad him in Vishnu-like ‘pitambara’ and a garland of Parijata flowers but not without his usual tiger-skin which he has wrapped around his waist like his loincloth over the ‘pitambara’, laces of rudraksha-beads which adorn his neck, breast and wrists, and snakes that hold his matted hair, lay across from his left shoulder to the right side of the waist alternating ‘yajnopavit’ and adorn his shoulders and neck. With one of his hands he is holding Parvati, and with the other, Ganesh. In other two hands he is carrying his trident with damaru – double drum, attached to it, and an axe. Tri-netra, tripunda and crescent are other attributes that the artist has used for defining Shiva’s form.

A kind of blissfulness defines Parvati’s face. Her contentment, perhaps for being with Shiva and her sons, is absolute, and the same reveals in her sitting posture, the right leg placed on her left defined in iconographic tradition as ‘lalitasana’ – a posture of complete ease. With an oval face, large eyes with arched eye-brows, sharp features and a well defined neck Parvati’s figure reveals unique beauty of form. She has been represented as wearing a deep red silk sari with gold border and light pink blouse and rich gold jewellery inlaid with precious stones, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pearls among others. Besides the jewellery for neck, breast, arms, wrists and feet she is putting on also a towering majestic crown and splendid girdle.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

The Holy Family

Código del Artículo: HJ08

Watercolor on Paper

7.0 inches X 10.4 inches

Precio: Euro 149.00 Envío - 4 to 6 days

Descripción

This brilliant piece of art, a miniature rendered in Basohli/Mankot idiom of Pahari art style as it prevailed around the later half of the eighteenth century, portrays against a plain but highly effectively mauve background the family of Lord Shiva, known as the Holy Family. The Holy family is seated on a full blown lotus laid over a gems-studded hexagonal chowki. The lotus with its light pinkish hue provides to the figures of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh and Karttikeya effective contrast. The four-armed Shiva, seated towards the right, has in his lap the four-armed Ganesh, their younger son, while Parvati, his consort, seated on his left, has in her lap six faced and four armed Karttikeya, their elder son. Lord Ganesh is carrying in his four hands goad, rosary, lotus and a tray of ‘laddus’ – the sugar-balls. The jealous ones, often known to quarrel, Ganesh and Karttikeya occupy prestigious positions of equal importance, one in the father’s lap and arms, while the other, in those of the mother.

In Shiva, Parvati and their two sons the Indian mind has always perceived not merely the supreme and the holiest but also the most ideal model of family life. Unlike Vishnu and Lakshmi who abound in great regalia Shiva family is closer to average Indian and with their children it presents a more accomplished model of family life than do other gods of Trinity or any. For portraying an absolute model of family Lord Shiva has been portrayed without his usual attributes which have no role in family life. Lest she incited discordance the artist has avoided portraying Ganga in his ‘jata-juta’ – coiffure. Most paintings of the Holy family include depictions of the family’s ‘vahanas’ – vehicles, Shiva’s Nandi, the bull, Parvati’s lion, Karttikeya’s peacock and Ganesh’s mouse, though strangely the artist has not portrayed them here. Maybe, he avoided to crowd the canvas which with its grayish mauve plain formless background provides to the Holy family a dazzling contrast and puts it in greater focus. With large eyes, prominent features and round faces the iconography of Shiva and Parvati has exceptional thrust and effectiveness.