Savitri Triumphs over Yama, the God of Death

12th/13th century

India
Madhya Pradesh

This sculpture portrays a story in which Savitri, a devoted wife, wins back her husband, Satyavan, from the god of death, Yama. She married him despite warnings that he would die within one year and performed deep penance in the hope of securing the gods’ help. In the scene depicted here, on the prophesied day of his death Satyavan has gone to cut wood in the forest, where he falls ill. Savitri can be seen in the background pleading with Yama for her husband’s life.

Status: On View, Gallery 141
Department: Arts of Asia

Title: Savitri Triumphs over Yama, the God of Death
Place: Madhya Pradesh (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1101–1300
Medium: Sandstone
Inscriptions: Base has inscription: "Vatasavitri" literally "Banyan Tree Savitri"
Dimensions: 47.6 × 33.2 × 12.3 cm (18 3/4 × 13 1/8 × 4 7/8 in.)
Credit Line: James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection. Gift of Marilynn Alsdorf
Reference Number: 2021.203
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/130671/manifest.json

Pratapaditya Pal, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, exh. cat. (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Thames and Hudson, 1997), 201 (ill), 332, cat. 260.

Art Institute of Chicago, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Aug. 2–Oct. 26, 1997, cat. 260.

James W. Alsdorf (1913–1990) and Marilynn B. Alsdorf (1925–2019), Winnetka and Chicago, IL, by Feb. 8, 1983 [Chicago 1983]; by descent to Marilynn B. Alsdorf, Chicago, 1990 [on long-term loan at the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 8, 1983; publicly promised as a gift to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1997; signed a promised gift agreement for the work, 2002]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2021.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.