Sculpture, Représentation de Krishna en marbre noir, Inde, XVème siècle - 19 cm - Marble

Black marble representation of Krishna

India, the state of Gujarat
Medieval era, 15th century

The deity is depicted standing in a hieratic posture, dressed in a simple dhoti, with the torso adorned with a broad brahmanic cord. The massive neck supports a wide necklace decorated with a pendant in the shape of a flower. The face is characterized by long, comma-shaped eyebrow arches framing almond-shaped lenticular eyes inlaid with white marble, offering a fixed and intense gaze, almost hypnotic to the deity. The aquiline nose, the mouth with thin lips sketching a slight smile. The hairstyle is flattened on the head and ends in a bun tied at the back, with ears adorned with large circular pendants.

Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, is one of the central figures of the Hindu pantheon, at the crossroads of theology, mythology, and philosophy. In the tradition associated with the worship of Vishnu, he is not merely a temporary divine manifestation but the supreme expression of the divine, embodying cosmic consciousness itself. He is the model of divine intervention in the world, both intimate and transcendent. Through his actions in the Mahabharata or the Puranas, he illustrates the convergence of spiritual paths: devotion, wisdom, and righteous action.

Our piece bears witness to an artistic syncretism characteristic of Gujarat in the 15th century, a region then marked by close coexistence between Hindu and Jain communities. This Jain influence is notably reflected in several distinctive aesthetic elements:
The hieratic posture as well as the position of the right arm contrast sharply with the more classical Hindu representations of Krishna, where he is often depicted in gracefully bent poses such as the tribhanga, typical of the iconography of Krishna Venugopala.
- The use of black marble and the fixed gaze with large white-inlaid eyes directly recall the conventions of Jain sculpture applied to the tirthankaras, major spiritual figures of Jainism. - The pendant worn by the deity also evokes the shrivatsa, a distinctive ornamental symbol of Jain saints.

• The presence of scattered traces of gold leaf and visible cinnabar around the eyes, mouth, and ears (to evoke divine presence and attract blessings) indicates sustained ritual use. The dimensions of our figurine, combined with the aforementioned elements, lead us to two hypotheses regarding its cultic context: it could have been placed in a niche within a temple, as a figure associated with a main deity, or used in a domestic cult, within a private space.

Black marble
Visible damages, wear and tear
Localized traces of gilding and cinnabar.
19 x 11 cm excluding the base
European private collection