Unknown
Varaha, the Boar Avatar of Vishnu3rd century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 3

Terra-cotta stone relief fragment depicting a large, elephant-headed creature grasping smaller human-like figures, with rough, uneven edges suggesting a broken fragment

Fragmentary red sandstone relief sculpture of a standing monkey-faced figure in tribhanga pose, wearing ornaments, with smaller figures carved in relief to the right, mounted on a wooden base.

Sandstone sculpture fragment in reddish-brown stone, depicting a large crouching animal figure at left grasping a cluster of smaller human and animal figures arranged vertically at right, with weathered and pitted surface texture.

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Varaha, the Boar Avatar of Vishnu
Place Made: India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura
Date Made: 3rd century
Medium: Mottled red sandstone
Dimensions: 22 1/2 x 20 3/8 x 4 1/4 in. (57.15 x 51.75 x 10.8 cm)
Credit Line: From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase
Accession Number: M.72.53.8
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Varaha is the third incarnation or avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. According to the most common version of the tale, the demon Hiranyaksha had seized the Earth and dragged her to the depths of the cosmic ocean. Under the protection of a boon, Hiranyaksha recited the names of all humans, gods, and other creatures, who thus could not harm him. But he neglected to mention the boar. Upon realizing this, Vishnu manifest himself as a giant boar and dove into the ocean. He killed Hiranyaksha with his tusks and rescued the Earth, here personified as the goddess Bhumi standing on a lotus next to his left shoulder. She grasps Varaha’s snout with her upraised right hand and is being lifted up to the surface of the ocean.

Varaha is depicted in a hybrid form with the head of a boar atop a muscular human body. He has two arms. His right hand rests on his hip and his left on his thigh. He wears a tripartite necklace and a long forest garland (vanamala) that hangs around his shoulders and crosses over his arms above his elbows. It would have originally continued to cross in front of his knees.
Selected Bibliography: Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Nepal. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1985.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1986.
El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.
Rod-ari, Melody. "The Pacific Rim: connecting peoples, collecting histories. The formation of South and Southeast Asian art collections in Los Angeles." Journal of the History of Collections 28 no.3 (2016): 479-492.

Unknown
Varaha, the Boar Avatar of Vishnu3rd century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 3

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Varaha, the Boar Avatar of Vishnu
Place Made: India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura
Date Made: 3rd century
Medium: Mottled red sandstone
Dimensions: 22 1/2 x 20 3/8 x 4 1/4 in. (57.15 x 51.75 x 10.8 cm)
Credit Line: From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase
Accession Number: M.72.53.8
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Varaha is the third incarnation or avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. According to the most common version of the tale, the demon Hiranyaksha had seized the Earth and dragged her to the depths of the cosmic ocean. Under the protection of a boon, Hiranyaksha recited the names of all humans, gods, and other creatures, who thus could not harm him. But he neglected to mention the boar. Upon realizing this, Vishnu manifest himself as a giant boar and dove into the ocean. He killed Hiranyaksha with his tusks and rescued the Earth, here personified as the goddess Bhumi standing on a lotus next to his left shoulder. She grasps Varaha’s snout with her upraised right hand and is being lifted up to the surface of the ocean.

Varaha is depicted in a hybrid form with the head of a boar atop a muscular human body. He has two arms. His right hand rests on his hip and his left on his thigh. He wears a tripartite necklace and a long forest garland (vanamala) that hangs around his shoulders and crosses over his arms above his elbows. It would have originally continued to cross in front of his knees.
Selected Bibliography: Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Nepal. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1985.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1986.
El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.
Rod-ari, Melody. "The Pacific Rim: connecting peoples, collecting histories. The formation of South and Southeast Asian art collections in Los Angeles." Journal of the History of Collections 28 no.3 (2016): 479-492.