56. STATUETTE DE VISHNU EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE INDE DU SUD, DÉBUT DE L'ÉPOQUE CHOLA, XE SIÈCLE 26 cm (10 1/4 in.) high A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VISHNU SOUTH INDIA, EARLY CHOLA PERIOD, 10TH CENTURY 印度南部 朱羅王朝早期 十世紀 毗濕奴銅像 Published: Arman Neven, Sculpture des Indes, Brussels, 1978, p. 107, no. 39. Exhibited: Sculpture des Indes, Société Générale de Banque, Brussels, 8 December 1978 - 31 January 1979. Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1969 Vishnu, the Preserver, is identifiable by his militant attributes of the chakra (discus), shankha (conch), gada (mace), and with his lower right hand in abhaya mudra (the gesture of allaying fear). He stands in a frontal pose in iconometric symmetry, proportionally articulated with the measurements assigned to divine beings. Here, his hieratic proportions in fine counterpoise and distinctive ornamentation draws inspiration from the classic Pallava period (275-897) through its simple, elongated forms. The cylindrical crown type and long torso are shared by another Pallava image of Vishnu in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2015.147), showing a resonance of this previous dynasty that carried into early Chola art. Nevertheless, this new dynasty did not adhere to a strict carryover of earlier Pallava styles, but used them to inform bronzes that became more robust in proportion and stylized in ornamentation. For example, the chakra at the back of the head becomes a larger lotus shape from its predecessors, and the hair that once fanned out in long sinewy strands at the back of the head, become shorter and tighter in the early Chola period, as illustrated here and on another bronze of the same dating in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1987.142.68). The sacred thread running across the front of the chest becomes more sinewy, the accompanying threads and clasp more elaborate, the necklace broader, the band around the waist thicker, and the tassels and central loop more mannered in early Chola bronzes, as depicted on both this sculpture and one in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena (M.1973.1.1.S).