STÈLE D'UMA MAHESHVARA EN GRÈS INDE DU NORD, XIE SIÈCLESTÈLE D'UMA MAHESHVARA EN GRÈSINDE DU NORD, XIE SIÈCLE38 cm (15 in.) highA SANDSTONE STELE OF UMA MAHESHVARANORTH INDIA, 11TH CENTURY印度北部 十一世紀 砂岩濕婆與烏瑪石碑Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s "As Uma-Mahesvara, their image shows Uma as part of Shiva's ambience, though not of his body. The togetherness of god and goddess is full of meaning on more than one level: Uma-Mahesvara may be seen as wedded divine lovers, exalted in their embrace; they may be realized in their togetherness as Purusa and Prakrti, Spirit and Matter, Essence and Substance – while each level implies the other, linked by a living myth. Their coincidence subsists in the work of art. Each age and school of art and each sculptor realized Uma-Mahesvara in a separate way, channelled by the iconographic guidance of the manuals on image making." (Kramrisch, Manifestations of Shiva, 1981, p. 58.) Shiva's fingers hug Uma's supple waist as she nimbly reclines on his left thigh. Twisting her torso and raising her gaze, Uma dotes on Shiva while he looks forward with a searching gaze. Ensconced below are the divine couple's offspring, Ganesha and Kartikeya, as well as endearing depictions of their bull and lion mounts. The remaining carved surface is crammed with celestial attendants and mythical vyalas and makaras. Stylistic comparisons can be drawn with a stele attributed to the mid-10th-century in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.75.11). See also a 9th-century Uma Maheshvara stele in the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS.113-1986).