Day 117 - Nepalese Skanda


January 7, 2019

I'm not sure I've identified Gallery 251 correctly: the map is not very clear,  and I can't locate the gallery number posted anywhere on the museum walls.*  In any case, "my" Gallery 251 centers on the art of Nepal. The works date mostly from about 1000 to 1500 C.E. and reflect both Buddhist and Hindu themes. Many are finely wrought plaques and statuettes of gilded copper alloy. I especially like a plaque depicting Garuda, his arms/wings outstretched in flight and his eagle's beak contrrasting sharply with his human ears adorned by large earrings. I also like a small, elaborately detailed statuette of Durga slaying Manisha. And there's an interesting polychrome wooden statue of the goddess of dance, who is, unexpectedly, a form of Buddhist savior. Her upper arms are so intricately painted that at first I wonder if the design suggests tattooing; on closer inspection, I decide she's wearing a delicately patterned top.

Today's object, a gilt-copper statuette from 11th or 12th century Nepal, is small- only about 5 inches tall- and much simpler than many, but it has broadened my thinking. It depicts Kumara Skanda, son of Shiva and Parvathi. ("Kumara," I learn, is an epithet meaning "the everlasting youthful son,")  The label informs me that he is also the same as Karttikeya, the god of war. He sits astride a peacock, which, the label informs me, is a bird known for its aggressiveness and speed in combat.

Who knew? I've always thought of peacocks simply as emblems of male pride and vanity. But presumably, that pride was rooted in aggression, and in emerging victorious from potentially dangerous, even life-threatening, combat. It makes me think more sympathetically about the burdens that men have faced, in folklore and in reality.

 *This is really gallery 252, it turns out.

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