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Shri Sheshanarayana

1880–85
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 251
Vishnu Narayana, the primordial god who resides in cosmic waters (nara), stirring from his slumber on the ocean while supported by the divine serpent Shesha is a celebrated moment of rebirth in Vedic cosmology. To devotees, it marks the end of the monsoon season and cosmologically, it announces the beginning of a new age (kalpa). In this form, Vishnu is the divine cosmic substance and energy that underlies all forms of phenomenal existence. Brahma is born from a lotus that rises from Vishnu’s navel; he subsequently creates the material world through divine thought. In the hands of the artists of the Chore Bagan Art Studio, this subject is animated through brightly colored stippling and shading to achieve volume and depth. Lakshmi is dressed as if she were a Bengali bride, with distinctive bracelets (haathphool) and a diadem.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shri Sheshanarayana
  • Date: 1880–85
  • Culture: West Bengal, Calcutta
  • Medium: Color lithograph
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 13 × 10 in. (33 × 25.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Robert and Bobbie Falk Philanthropic Fund Gift, 2021
  • Object Number: 2021.216
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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