Satyabhama (Krishna’s junior wife)

ca. late 11th–early 12th century

India, Tamil Nadu

Copper alloy

H. 31 1/2 inches

Asia Society, New York: Gift of Hope Aldrich, 2024.2

Provenance

Collection of Hope Aldrich, bequest of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, in 1979.

The Asia Society, New York, NY, gift of Hope Aldrich, New York, 2024.

on view Licensing inquiries

As told in the Hindu epic the Bhagavata Purana (Tales of Lord Vishnu), Satyabhama is the daughter of King Satrajit, who gave her in marriage to Krishna as thanks for Krishna’s recovery of the precious Syamantaka jewel, a ruby said to have magical powers. In this bronze sculpture, created for Hindu festival processions, Satyabhama’s right hand is raised to grasp a lotus flower (kataka mudra), while she bends her left knee to lean toward what is a now-missing male figure. Those two sculptures would have been part of a grouping of bronzes, where Krishna is flanked by his senior wife, Rukmini, to his right and Satyabhama to his left.