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A Vaishnava Relief

Author(s): Ananda CoomaraswamySource: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vol. 30, No. 178 (Apr., 1932), pp. 37-39Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4170365 .

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BULLETINOF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS XXX, 37

Two EtruscanAntefixes rom Veii Villa Giulia Museum, Rome

centre,Corinth,rom which t spreadover Greeceproperand thence to Southern taly,Sicily, andEtruria. The story that a Corinthianpotter,Boutades,"firstplacedmasksas tile-fronts n theeaves of buildings"thus has a historicalbasis.And anotheregend,accordingowhichDemaratos,a Corinthian oble, who fled to Etruria uring hetyrannyof the Kypselidsand was the fatherofTarquiniusriscus, he firstEtruscan ingof Rome,took withhimthreeclaymodellerswho introducedthe art into Italy, may be true in the sense thatCorinth ent out her craftsmen s well as theirproducts s far as Etruria. Modellingn terra-cottahad a longerhistoryn Italy han n Greece,whereit was superseded y marble culpture. To showwhatwas accomplishedn thisfield n Etruriat isonly necessaryto mention the superb, life-sizestatueof ApollofromVeii, which s now the chieftreasuref the Villa Giulia. It has been ascribedto the schoolof a Veientineartistwith he Etruscanname Vulca,who was commissioned y Tarquinto make a statue of Zeus in this material or theCapitolat Rome.The antefix cquiredby the Museum s saidtohavebeen foundat Veii. Itsmaterials the coarseclay of the region, ull of black and red particlesandspecks f mica. It is now 111 2 incheshigh.But he headwasoriginallyurmountedya semi-circularimbuscallopedikea shell, ising bovetheconcaveilletwhichended n upturnedpiralsabove heshoulders.No replicasre o befoundamonghe antefixes ithsatyr's eads o farpub-lished. Andthisexample iffersn severalartic-ulars rom the prevailingype: the shell wassmaller,xtendingownwardsnlyas far as thebasesof theears; he earsarehelderect;and hehunchedhouldersf thesatyr re ndicated.Anantefixrom heexcavationstVeii,here llustratedwith heaccompanyingeadof a maenad, ringsoutthesedifferenceslearly. The artist f ourantefixas aidmore mphasisn thehead,esson

the surrounding ecoration. By eliminating llsuperfluousetailand modellinghe principalormsin bold curves,he has broughtout to the full thevitality nd bestial haracter f the creature epre-sented. And the simple polychromy-red andblackon a creamgroundenhances the effective-ness of the design. The fleshof the satyr s lightbrick-red, ishairblack; his eyelidsare outlinednblack,andblack riseswere paintedon the bulgingcream-colored yeballs. The fillet has a blackouter, and a red inneredge; stripsof black ac-centuated he scallopsof the shell; and the bandat the base showssimple black and redchequerson a cream ground. The workis to be dated inthe archaicperiod,not later,one would think, han5 10 B. C., the traditional ate of the expulsion fthe TarquinsromRome. L. D. C.

A Vaishnava ReliefA MARBLE slab' elaboratelyarved n highrelief, probablyof Rajputanaorigin anddateableabout he twelfthcentury, asbeen givento the Museumby Mr. N. M. Heeramaneck; tis exhibited n Gallery A 1 and shown in theaccompanyingllustration.The treatment s thatof a style alreadyormalized nd stereotyped,etbyno means ackingn accomplishment,ndwithinits own limitsentirelyatisfactory.The slab pre-sumablyormedsomepartof the wall of a shrine,and is notin itself to be regardedas a cultobject.The materialllustrateds that of the mediaevalPauranikBrahmanical ythology,roma Vaisnavapointof view. In the upperregister, n the left,the threemembers f the Hindu Trinity tandinniches; all are four-handed,but many of theattributes re broken, nlythe book (the Vedas)in Brahma'spper eft hand,the trident n S'iva'supperright,and mace in Visnu'supper right,be-ing clearly recognizable. If the slab is rightly

'Registration No. 30.3. Dimensions, .81 x.54 m.

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XXX, 38 BULLETINOF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Marble Slab, Hindu Theology Twelfth CenturyA. D.Gift of N. M. Heeramaneck

recognized s essentially aisnava, heTrinitys nothereto be regardedas one of independent eities,but as representing he three aspects of Visnuwhichconstitutehe minorAvatarDattatreya, ornof Atri and his wife Anusciyd.'The central panel, divided into two parts, has aS'aiva character. On the upper left is an ugraform of the Devi, perhaps Kali, with pendentbreasts,and four-armed,seated on a recliningmalefigure; on the right Ganesa, seated, four-armed,holding the axe in his upper righthand, tusk in hislower right, snake in upper left, and bowl of sweet-meats in lower left. In the panel below is whatcan only be a lingam-yoni, representing S'iva andParvati; but the representation of the lingam astripartite s unusual (there may be an allusion tothe formof S'iva known as Mahesa, this formbeingusuallythree-faced).On the right, in three niches, are the figures ofBrahma, bearded and four-headed (as also on theextreme left of the upper register,already alludedto), four-armed,with the sacrificialladle and bookheld in the upper hands and well preserved; andof two saktis, no doubt Sarasvati and Savitri.Brahma's positionimmediatelyabove the centre ofthe recliningNarayana-Visnu in the lower registeris probably significant,as will appear below.

In thelowerregister,ppereft, sthewell-knowngroupof the Nine Planets(Navagraha) eginningwith the Sun on the left and ending with thecurious alf-figuref Rahu (the ascendingnode ofthe moon) and snake-bodied igureof Ketu (thedescendingnode of the moon) on the left; thatbotharethoughtof as of the Naga race s shownby the manyserpenthoods seen above Rahu'shead,and one above Ketu's. On the samesidein the lower panel are represented he SevenMothers, a group of partly beneficent,partlymalevolentgoddessesrepresentinghe s'aktis ofvarious ivinities, ut as a groupcloselyconnectedwithS'iva,Karttikeya,ndGanesa. Inthe centralpanel are two standing emininedivinitiesholdingcornucopia-likeprays;thesearescarcelyndividualdivinities,but may be regardedas apsarases ornymphs.The most interestingompositions that on therightof the lowerregister,epresenting 5rayana-Vianuas Anantasayin, alasayin,Uttanapad, . e.,reclining n the cosmicocean, supportedby theserpent f the depths,AnantaorS'esa,whosecoilsforma kind of mattress, hilehis threehoods riseabove Visnu's head and crown. The cosmicwatersare represented y the waved bands withfishes, tortoise, etc. Visnu is fourarmed; thediscus in the upper left hand, and mace beside theupper right,are clearlyrecognizable. The goddessseated at and massaging his feet is Laksmi, theothergoddess near his middle may be Bhumi Devi.The two threatening male figures between thesegoddesses are the demons Madhu and Kaitabha.

"See Rao, T. A. G., Elements of Hindu iconography, 1, 252 andPi. LXXII, Fig. 1; cf. Mbh., III, 272, where the Trinity is said to bethe functionally active forms of Narayana, a relation clearly demonstratedin a Burmese relief from Thaton, where the lotus rising from Narayana'snavel bears three flowers on which are seated Brahma, Visnu. and Siva,or as they are otherwise designated in reverse order, Hari, Hara, andPitamaha (Temple, Notes on Antiquities from Ramannadesa, IndianAntiquary, 1894, Pls. XIV, XlVa).

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BULLETINOF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS XXX, 39This conceptionof the supremedeityas restingupon the CosmicSea previous o the creationofthe universe, r rather,during he intervalsandh-yakila) between two cycles (yuga) of creation,is a very ancientone. It is originally arunawho

thus rests on the primevalwaters,with a tree oflife rising romhisnavel, n which tree there cometo being the gods and all creatures. Subsequentlythissupreme eity comes o be knownas Prajapati(Father of Creatures),Vi?vakarma All-maker),Brahman (from brhl,to expand or increase),Narayana abidingon the waters),and finally heancient but originally ubordinatedeity Visnu isexalted to the highest place and identifiedwithNarayana. This Visnu inherits oth the characterand mythsof the earlierdesignations,nd in factrepresents n unchangedconceptionundera dif-ferentname. In character, he essentialsof thisconceptionare the ideas of ria, cosmic aw andjustice,and ksatlra, ingship;whileVis.u inheritsfromVaruna not merely he fundamental reationmyth with the production f vegetative ife of theuniverse rom the navel as progenitive entre,butalso such iconographicpeculiarities s the bluecolor common o both, which is that of the skyreflectedn water.The substitutionf Narayaiia-Vi44uorBrahmanor Brahmaas supreme eity takesplace within heperiod of the composition f the Epic (MahaTb-h&rata)n its present orm, hat is to say, to quoteextreme imits,between ca. 400 B. C. and A. D.200. In the earlier Epic, as in Pali Buddhistliterature,Brahma s still supreme. The replace-ment by Narayana-Visnunvolveshe reduction fBrahmarom he statusof the God whosetimelessbeing transcendsllconceivable emporal reations,to that of an individualDemiurgewhoselife-span,thoughof enormous uration,s still imitedby time.ln iconography, he new relationis commonlyshown in a composition epresentinghe recliningNarayana-Visnuwith a lotusstalkrising romhisnavel, and Brahma seated on the lotus flower,whence his later epithetsabiaja,nTbhi-padmaja,lotus-born r navel-lotus-born,nd kamalasana,seated on a lotus.' In our relief,as sometimeshappens,his"Birthof Brahma"s not expresslyrepresented; but the presence of the demonsMadhu and Kaitabha,whose attack is directednot againstVisnu, but againstBrahma, mplyhispresence,and as we have remarkedabove, thepresenceof the standing Brahmain the upperregistermmediately bove Narayana-Vis.u'smid-dle suggestshis originas an emanation rom thelatter. ANANDA COOMARASWAMY.

The Annual Report for 1931THE Fifty-sixthAnnualReportof the Museumfor the year 1931, issuedon the seventeenthof February, ontainshe reports f the President,the Treasurer,nd the Director,ogetherwithlistsof the Trustees ndOfficers, f the Staff,of AnnualSubscribers,nd of Donorsand Lendersof objectsof art,and also the reportof the Councilof theMuseumSchool.The Board ufferedhe loss by deathof fourofitsmembers uring he year. Mr. MorrisGray,aTrustee ince 1902 and President f the Museumfrom1914 until 1924, died on Jannary 2, 1931;Mr. AugustusHemenway,who had servedas aTrustee ince 1913 and as Chairman f the Visit-ingCommitteeo the Departmentf EgyptianArtsince 1915, died on May 25, 1931 ; Dr. SamuelW. Stratton,ince 1923 one of threerepresenta-tives appointedby the Massachusetts nstitute fTechnology,died on October 18, 1931; and Mr.JeremiahL. Burke,for ten years a Trustee exofficioas Superintendentf Public Schools in theCityof Boston,died on October29, 1931.Mr. SamuelCabotwas electeda Trusteeat theAnnual Meeting of the Board on January15,1931; Mr. Louis E. Kirsteinand Mr. PatrickT. Campbellbecame membersex offcio, theformer y hisappointments President f the Bos-ton PublicLibrary,he latteras SuperintendentfPublicSchoolssucceedingMr. Burke.In the Staff of differentDepartments omechanges occurred. After twenty years of ableadministration r. John EllertonLodge resignedfromthe Curatorshipf Asiatic Art to devote hisentire ime to the FreerGallery n Washington, fwhich he has been Directorsince 1921. Mr.KojiroTomita was appointedCuratorof AsiaticArt on October 15, after an association f nearlytwenty-five years with the Museum, and Dr.AnandaK. Coomaraswamy,eeperof IndianArtsince 191 7, was appointedFellowforResearch nIndian, Persian, and MuhammadanArt. OnJanuary1, 1932, Mr. Robert Treat Paine, Jr.,became Associatein the Department f AsiaticArt. Miss MarionEvansDoane,Assistantn theDivision of Instructionince 1928, was madeSupervisor f the Divisionto succeed Mr.HenryHunt Clark,whose resignationrom the MuseumSchool and fromthe Staff of the Museumtookeffect in Septemberwhen he became Directorofthe Cleveland School of Art. Miss Alice M.Maginniswas appointedMuseumInstructor ndMissNancy Pence Assistantn the Department fTextiles.Although he number f visitors347,520) wasappreciablyess than in 1930, it is significantnthese timesof enforced eisuredue to unemploy-ment hat the number f personsdefinitelyeekinginstructionmateriallyncreasedand broughttheattendanceecords f the Divisionof Instructionotheirhighesttotal,- 111 5 1. The decrease in

1Such representationsoccur at Badami in the sixth century (see Banerji,Bas-reliefs of Badami, Mem. A. S. I., 25, P1. Xi, a), and Elura in theeighth century ( Yaksas, II, P1. 47, Fig. 1). The birth of Brahma con-tinues to be represented according to the same formula up to the presentday, and it occurs in Farther India as well as in India proper; it is inter-esting to observe that the literary and iconographic sources taken togetherdemonstrate a persistence n time for the idea of the Creator reclining on theCosmic waters amounting to three or four millennia, while the geographicaldistribution covers half a continent. It is also just possible that the Euro-pean representationsof the Tree of Jesse have been affected by the Indianrepresentations (see my Tree of Jesse and Indian sources or parallels,ArtBulletin, ol. Xl).