Vishnu (650–99): Art, History and Details

Vishnu (650–99) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The muscular physique, sensitive smile, and flat-topped high crown are characteristics of Vishnu images made during the pre-Angkorian period (c. 550–802) in Cambodia. This sculpture probably was the sole object of worship in a small brick temple sanctum.

Object facts

• Title: Vishnu
• Date: 650–99
• Culture: Cambodia
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: gray sandstone
• Dimensions: Overall: 87 cm (34 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Cambodian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1942.562

A detail from the museum

The god wears a short garment (sampot) tied to form a loop on the left with the hanging ends on the right thigh.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hollis, Howard. "Two Pre-Khmer Statues of Vishnu." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 29, no. 10 (December 1942): 164–166.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.