Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan
| Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan | |
|---|---|
| Object type | Sculpture |
| Material | Sandstone |
| Period | c. 600 |
| Holding institution | Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Catalogue reference | 1973.106 |
| Subjects | Religion & Spiritual Life; Visual Arts & Design; History & Remembrance |
Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan is a Khmer sculpture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, catalogued as 1973.106. (Cleveland Museum of Art)
Description
The sandstone sculpture shows the Hindu god Krishna holding a mountain aloft to shelter villagers and herds from storms. It is one of eight monumental monolithic figures recovered from a two-peaked hill in the Mekong floodplain on the outskirts of the ancient centre of Angkor Borei. (Cleveland Museum of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art)
Catalogue reference
The Cleveland Museum of Art records the object as 1973.106. The same record gives the material as sandstone and the period as c. 600. (Cleveland Museum of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art)
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art records the sculpture as one of eight monumental monolithic figures recovered from Phnom Da, a two-peaked hill in the Mekong floodplain on the outskirts of Angkor Borei in Takeo province. The museum's account of the 2015 agreement states that fragments were found at Phnom Da in 1935 and sent to Belgium, that the museum acquired the Krishna from the Stoclet estate in 1973, that further fragments were recovered in 1977, and that pieces not used in the reconstruction were sent to Phnom Penh in 2005. In the same announcement the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of the Kingdom of Cambodia authorized the transfer of a fragment to Cleveland on 30 October 2015 so that it could be rejoined to the sculpture, and Dr. Kong Vireak, then director of the National Museum of Cambodia, is quoted welcoming the collaboration. (Cleveland Museum of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art)