Detail of Yashoda and Krishna in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2019

Yashoda with the Infant Krishna
early 12th century


Object Details

Period: Chola period (880–1279)

Date: early 12th century

Culture: India (Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai and Tanjavur districts)

Medium: Copper alloy

Dimensions: H. 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm); W. 11 13/16 in. (30 cm); D. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Purchase, Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust Gift, in honor of Cynthia Hazen and Leon B. Polsky, 1982

Accession Number: 1982.220.8


This tender image of maternal affection depicts the child Krishna being nursed by his foster mother, Yashoda. In infancy Krishna had been hidden from the murderous king Kamsa of Mathura to be raised in safety by foster parents. In the repertoire of South Indian processional bronzes cast during the Chola period, this subject is rarely represented. The sophisticated modeling, casting, and tooling link this work to Chola bronzes of the late eleventh and twelfth centuries.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39331