Head of Shiva (lingakosha)
Details
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- Gold and silver repoussé
- Dimensions
- H. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm)
- Department
- Asian Art
- Holding institution
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image provider
- metropolitan-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1996
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Deities and Holy Figures Both · 99%
The catalog identifies the subject as Shiva, and the image visibly presents an idealized sacred male head with a central forehead ornament and elaborate headdress.
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Human Figure Both · 99%
The catalog title identifies the work as a head, while the image clearly shows a modeled human head and upper neck.
Visual Qualities
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Symmetrical Visual · 98%
The centered head is organized around a strong vertical axis, with closely balanced facial features, earrings, headdress elements, and lower ornaments.
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 99%
The headdress, hair, earrings, forehead ornament, facial hair, and neck base are densely decorated with repeated raised and incised patterns.
Medium and Techniques
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Sculpture Both · 99%
The catalog classifies the object as sculpture, and the image shows a three-dimensional repoussé form rather than a flat image.
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Frontal Perspective Visual · 98%
The object is shown directly from the front, with its frontal visage and lower neck base presented to the viewer.
Time Periods
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500 - 1000 CE Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the object to the late 9th–10th century, corresponding to the latter part of the 500–1000 CE period category.
Geographic Regions
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Asian Art Metadata · 98%
The catalog gives the place of origin as Vietnam, specifically Champa and probably Quang Nam Province; the catalog provides no more specific regional category than Asian art.
Materials
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Gold Metadata · 99%
The catalog explicitly identifies gold as one of the materials; the image shows a predominantly warm gold-toned metallic surface.
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Silver Metadata · 95%
The catalog explicitly identifies silver as part of the medium, although the image alone cannot reliably distinguish all silver areas from shadows, patination, or surface variation.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Hindu Art and Architecture Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies Shiva and Hinduism as the subjects and places the work within the context of Asian art.
Source & rights
Unknown artist. Head of Shiva (lingakosha). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.