SOUTH INDIA, CHOLA PERIOD, 11TH CENTURY

Rukmini is the first wife of the mischievous young gopa and avatar of Vishnu, Krishna; the present bronze would likely have flanked an image of him. When she was arranged to be married to a man she didn't love, Krishna kidnapped her at her request and they eloped. Later, when Krishna's younger second wife Satyabhama foolishly "sold" Krishna to charity in a fit of jealousy and pride, Rukmini was able to win him back through prayer and a simple offering of a Tulsi leaf. Her modesty and devotion to her husband are thus held up as ideal virtues. The sculptor of the present work has rendered Rukmini with the sensuality characteristic of the Chola period. "In these images the typically Indian ideal of feminine beauty finds its most perfect expression. The body has a graceful, dancelike sway, the breasts are protruding yet firm, and the figure slender with a narrow waist, full hips, long legs, and delicate hands" (H. Munsterberg, Art of India and Southeast Asia, 1969, p. 137).