Goddess Kali

ca. 1879
Not on view
The awesome goddess Kali is perhaps the most readily recognized of all lithographic prints of this genre. She is seen here in classic form: a beautiful young woman of dark blue-black complexion with wild unbound hair, striding onto the corpse of Shiva that lies prostate in a charnel ground. Ghostly scenes of the tormented fill the background in a grisaille-type monochrome. Kali extends her red tongue fearsomely, and is adorned with macabre garlands of severed heads and limbs. She holds a freshly severed head and wields aloft the blooded sacrificial sword. Her forehead eye, beaming brilliantly, asserts her identity as an emanation of Durga-Parvati, Shiva’s wife and shakti in Tantric Shaivism.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Goddess Kali
  • Date: ca. 1879
  • Culture: West Bengal, Calcutta
  • Medium: Lithograph, printed in black and hand-coloring with watercolor and selectively applied glaze
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 15 3/4 × 12 1/2 in. (40 × 31.8 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Robert and Bobbie Falk Philanthropic Fund Gift, 2021
  • Object Number: 2021.200
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.