Shiva and Parvati

Description The intimacy of the divine couple is conveyed by Parvati's posture as she thrusts her shoulders toward Shiva but holds her head back, as if she were an enraptured listener. The faces have become worn as the result of the application of perfumes in the course of generations of worship in a family shrine.

Exhibitions

• Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. 2001-2003.

Provenance Ian Alsop, New York and Santa Fe [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, October 31, 1986, by purchase.

Credit Promised gift of John and Berthe Ford