Folio from a Manuscript of the Vishnu Sahasranama ("One Thousand Names of Vishnu")

late 17th - early 18th century

On View

Indian and Southeast Asian Art, Level 1, North Wing

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About the Artwork

In this painting, an illustrated page from a Hindu devotional text called the Vishnu Sahasranama (“One Thousand Names of Vishnu”), an artist visually represented four of the god Vishnu’s names.

Corresponding with the Mewari-language text above, the image in the upper left depicts Vishnu as “He who is always satisfied,” reaching into a plate of food. In the lower left, two devotees kneel before Vishnu — the artist’s interpretation of the second epithet, “He whose nature is brilliance.” The third name — “He who fears no one” — is illustrated at upper right, where Vishnu has laid down a sword, shield, bow, and arrows. At lower right, Vishnu sitting triumphantly above a defeated horned creature is “He who killed the demon Naraka.”

Made in the kingdom of Mewar, in today’s Rajasthan state in northwestern India, the manuscript to which this painting belonged is now dispersed. With four names listed on each page, there must have been some two hundred fifty pages in total. According to the inscription, this folio was page forty-four.

Title Folio from a Manuscript of the Vishnu Sahasranama ("One Thousand Names of Vishnu")

Artwork Date late 17th - early 18th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Indian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Dimensions Sheet: 10 1/16 × 8 inches (25.6 × 20.3 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department Asian Art

Credit Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 71.312

Markings

Inscriptions [In yellow bar at top of folio, English translation of Mewari text]: "Thousand names. 44. He who is always satisfied. He whose nature is brilliance. He who fears no one. He who killed the demon Naraka."

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel;
1971-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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Published References

Krishna, Naval. Catalog of the Indian Painting in the DIA. MA Thesis, University of Michigan, 1979, p. 154.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Indian, Folio from a Manuscript of the Vishnu Sahasranama ("One Thousand Names of Vishnu"), late 17th - early 18th century, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel, 71.312.