Vishnu Sleeping on the Cosmic Ocean

Possible OriginMadhya Pradesh, India, Asia

CultureIndia, Madhya Pradesh

Date11th Century

MediumSandstone

Credit LineThe Ester R. Portnow Collection of Asian Art, a gift of the Nathan Rubin-Ida Ladd Family Foundation

Dimensions35 1/2 x 48 x 13 in. (90.2 x 121.9 x 33 cm)

Object number2001.001.014

Label TextHere, Vishnu sleeps in between the dissolution and creation of the universe, on the cosmic ocean that lies outside of space and time. He reclines on the body of Shesha, the eternal serpent whose multiple hoods (now lost) would have enveloped and protected his head. Two of Vishnu’s attributes, the mace and the conch, lie relaxed in his hands, while his consort Lakshmi massages his feet. Signaling for Vishnu to rise from his slumber, the creator god, Brahma, emerges from Vishnu’s navel on a lotus. Thus begins the creation of the cosmos and the lives of its inhabitants, who fill the panels of the sculpture. Below, divine musicians play their instruments, while above, celestial figures battle.

In Medieval North India, images of sleeping Vishnu were often carved on the exterior of temples or on the walls of large tanks or stepwells. Hindus to this day will recognize this scene as one of the most popular stories of creations.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - November 2009
Visions of the Cosmos: from Milky Ocean to Black Hole, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, New York, December 12, 2009 - May 2010
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, May 26, 2010 - April 4, 2021
The Avatars of Vishnu, Michael C. Carlos Museum, April 24 - July 18, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present
Published ReferencesJonathan Kuhr, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe (New York: Rubin Museum of Art, 2009), 6-7.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 124.
Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger, Everyday Hinduism (Chichester, West Sussuex: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), 22, Figure 1.1.

ProvenanceEx private collection. Purchased for MCCM by Robert Walzer [Nathan Rubin - Ida Ladd Family Foundation], Georgetown, Connecticut, from Eleanor Abraham Asian Art, New York, New York, October 6, 2000.

Status

On view

Collections