Emblem of God Shiva with Four Faces (Chaturmukhalinga)

7th/8th century

India
Rajasthan

The most sacred aspect of Shiva, one of the principal gods of Hinduism, the linga is the main focus of worship in temples dedicated to him. Taking the form of the phallus, it symbolizes Shiva’s yogic control of the cosmic creative force. This chaturmukhalinga (Shiva linga with four faces) aligns with the cardinal directions and represents the four aspects of the god: creation, wrath, gentleness, and ascetic self-discipline. Worship of the linga dates back to the most ancient times in the Indian subcontinent.

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

Title: Emblem of God Shiva with Four Faces (Chaturmukhalinga)
Place: Rajasthan (Object made in)
Date: 601 CE–800 CE
Medium: Sandstone
Dimensions: 71.7 × 40.6 × 44 cm (28 1/4 × 16 × 17 5/16 in.)
Credit Line: James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection. Gift of Marilynn Alsdorf
Reference Number: 2021.236
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/148374/manifest.json

Stella Kramrish, Manifestations of Shiva (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981), 6–7, cat. 6.
Doris M. Srinivasan,“Ritual as Icon in India” in Irving Lavin, ed., World Art: Themes of Unity in Diversity, Acts of The XXVIth International Congress of the History of Art, vol. 3 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1989), 557–562, fig. 5.
Pratapaditya Pal with contributions by Stephen Little, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Thames and Hudson, 1997), 16 (ill.), 272–73, cat. 8.
Doris M. Srinivasan, “Ritual as Icon in India” in Listening to Icons, Vol. I: Indian Iconographic and Iconological Studies (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2016), 38, fig. 3.5.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Manifestations of Shiva, Mar. 29–June 7, 1981, cat. 6; Fort Worth, TX, Kimbell Art Museum, Aug. 1–Sept. 27, 1981; Seattle Art Museum, Nov. 25, 1981–Jan. 31, 1982; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mar. 23–May 5, 1982.

James W. Alsdorf (1913–1990) and Marilynn B. Alsdorf (1925–2019), Winnetka and Chicago, IL, by Mar. 29, 1981 [Philadelphia 1981]; by descent to Marilynn B. Alsdorf, Chicago, 1990 [on long-term loan at the Art Institute of Chicago, July 15, 1997; signed a promised gift agreement for the work, 2002]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2021.

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