This tender image of maternal affection depicts the child Krishna being nursed by his foster mother, Yashoda. In infancy Krishna had been hidden from the murderous king Kamsa of Mathura to be raised in safety by foster parents. In the repertoire of South Indian processional bronzes cast during the Chola period, this subject is rarely represented. The sophisticated modeling, casting, and tooling link this work to Chola bronzes of the late eleventh and twelfth centuries.
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Title:Yashoda with the Infant Krishna
Period:Chola period (880–1279)
Date:early 12th century
Culture:India (Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai and Tanjavur districts)
Medium:Copper alloy
Dimensions:H. 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm); W. 11 13/16 in. (30 cm); D. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:Purchase, Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust Gift, in honor of Cynthia Hazen and Leon B. Polsky, 1982
Object Number:1982.220.8
Christian Humann , New York (by 1977 until d. 1981; estate sale by Ellsworth to MMA); [ R. H. Ellsworth Ltd. , New York, 1982, sold to MMA]
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan-Asian Collection," October 25, 1977–January 15, 1978.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration," October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Rings: Five Passions in World Art," June 24, 1996–September 29, 1996.
Paris. Chapelle de la Sorbonne. "Vasco de Gama e a India," May 11, 1998–June 30, 1998.
Washington, DC. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. "The Art of Chola Bronzes," November 10, 2002–March 9, 2003.
Dallas Museum of Art. "The Art of Chola Bronzes," April 4, 2003–June 15, 2003.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Art of Chola Bronzes," July 4, 2003–August 14, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Krishna: Mythology and Worship," March 1–July 28, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Bronze," September 15, 2012–December 9, 2012.
Pal, Pratapaditya. The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculpture from the Pan-Asian Collection. Exh. cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, [1977], pp. 128–29, cat. no.74.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, pp. 250–51, fig. 25.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1982–1983. n.s., Vol. 41 (1983), p. 80.
Barnhart, Richard M. (Introduction). The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Asia. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987, p. 137, pl. 92.
Burn, Barbara, ed. Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, p. 164.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 103, fig. 25.
Kossak, Steven. "The Arts of South and Southeast Asia." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. n.s., Vol. 51, no. 4 (spring 1994), p. 48, fig. 43.
Kossak, Steven. "The Arts of South and Southeast Asia: New Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum." Minerva. Vol. 5 no. 4 (July–August, 1994), p. 10, fig. 8.
Dehejia, Vidya, Richard H. Davis, R. Nagaswamy, and Karen Pechlis-Prentiss. The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India. Exh. cat. New York: American Federation of Arts, 2002, pp. 196–97, cat. no. 50.
Andrew Topsfield, ed. In the Realm of Gods and Kings: Arts of India. Exh. cat. London: Asia Society Museum, 2004, pp. 138–39, cat. no. 52.
Ekserdjian, David, ed. Bronze. Exh. cat. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2012, p. 265, cat. no. 69.
Hearn, Maxwell K. "Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. Vol. 73, no.1 (summer 2015), p. 32, fig. 44.
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