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Varahi (?): a boar-headed tantric goddess, with multiple arms bearing skulls, attended by two devotées

Indian

Artwork Details

Varahi (?): a boar-headed tantric goddess, with multiple arms bearing skulls, attended by two devotées
15th century
Indian
ink with green and pink watercolor (vegetable pigments) on paper
4 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (12.38 x 17.46 cm);12 x 14 in. (30.48 x 35.56 cm);19 x 14 in. (48.26 x 35.56 cm)
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink
2001/2.134

Description

This quick sketch depicts a multi-armed goddess with a boar’s head attended by two female figures. The sheer vitality of the line imparts great power to this figure. Her vehicle, a dog-like creature, sits at her feet. Another folio from this series, an image of the fierce goddess Durga slaying the Buffalo Demon, dates this work to the fifteenth century.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.

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