Vishnu - Antique - Vishnu with four arms – Indian devotional sculpture in dark stone - 1550-1600 Mughal Empire (1526-1857)

Vishnu with four arms – Indian devotional sculpture in dark stone, Northwestern India, probably Rajasthan, 16th–17th century

A sculpture in dark stone, relief-carved and pierced, depicting Vishnu in the quadribrachial form, standing within an arched frame attached to the base. The tall cylindrical crown, the disc (chakra) and the conch shell (shankha) held by the upper hands refer to the iconography of the god, custodian of cosmic order in Hindu tradition. Two minor figures stand alongside the deity at the feet, accentuating by contrast his centrality and solemnity. The elongated body, stern frontal stance, and balanced arrangement of the arms compose an image of restrained majesty, softened by the features of the face and the curvilinear rhythm of the ornaments. Particularly pleasing is the play of carved openings around the figure, which lightens the silhouette and highlights its profile through evocative light-and-shadow contrasts. The surfaces show wear and light deposits in the recesses, with minute reddish traces in the lower area; the attenuation of details gives the modeling a soft essentiality. An object of devotional character, in which the synthesis of forms preserves a notable expressive force and a composed sense of the sacred.