Kamala/Bhairavi
About 1890
(not assigned)Calcutta, Bengal, Indian
Medium/TechniqueLithograph
DimensionsHeight x width: 30.5 × 40.6 cm (12 × 16 in.)
Credit LineMarshall H. Gould Fund
Accession number2017.3942
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPrints
Collections
This print belongs to a set of five prints depicting the 10 Mahavidyas. The Mahavidyas, who first appear in late medieval Hinduism, are considered to be individual incarnations or manifestations of the Great Goddess, paralleling the ten incarnations of Vishnu. An origin story relates them to ten forms assumed by Shiva's wife Sati, in her anger over the disrespect her father, Daksha, showed toward Shiva. The Mahavidyas were particularly honored in the Bengal region.
Kamala, the "lotus lady," appears identical to Lakshmi, seated on a lotus in a lake, with four elephants pouring pitchers of water over her. Bhairavi, the "fearsome one," wears a garland of skulls, and is also seated within a peaceful mountain lake.
Provenance2011, purchased in Calcutta, India by Mark Baron and Elise Boisanté, New York; 2017, sold by Mark Baron and Elise Boisante to the MFA. (Accession date: October 11, 2017)
