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拍品专文
One of the most alluring images in Indian art is that of Krishna the flautist standing with his legs crossed at the ankles and playing the flute. Derived from the bamboo flute (venu) commonly played by shepards while tending their flock, Krishna has a flute that doubles as his staff. He plays to charm the cowherding gopis. The image appears relatively late in Indian literature and art and was possibly influenced by the classical myth of Orpheus. The subject has spurred the imagination of poets and artists alike who have created images of extraordinary retoric and visual richness.
Venugopala is carved in the round with the greatest of virtuosity and sense of grace, belying the hardness and weight of the material. It is of outstanding refinement and is without doubt one of the finest South Indian stone sculptures of its type.
Chola and Vijayanagar period sculpture is more commonly carved against a backplate; compare with a stele of Venugopala from the Avery Brundage Collection at the Asian Art Museum San Francisco, of considerably later date and with only the upper torso carved in openwork, see P. Pal (ed.), Dancing to the Flute, Music and Dance in Indian Art, fig. 36a, p. 86f.
Venugopala is carved in the round with the greatest of virtuosity and sense of grace, belying the hardness and weight of the material. It is of outstanding refinement and is without doubt one of the finest South Indian stone sculptures of its type.
Chola and Vijayanagar period sculpture is more commonly carved against a backplate; compare with a stele of Venugopala from the Avery Brundage Collection at the Asian Art Museum San Francisco, of considerably later date and with only the upper torso carved in openwork, see P. Pal (ed.), Dancing to the Flute, Music and Dance in Indian Art, fig. 36a, p. 86f.