The Hindu deity Skanda

It is not clear where and when this sculpture of the Hindu deity Skanda was made. The stumpy proportions, and the fact that the shapes of the limbs, head, and headdress have all been simplified almost into tubes, suggest that the figure was made far from the major centers of sculpture production. In those centers there would have been more emphasis on elegance and suave shaping of the forms.

Presumably rural, "folkish" works like this are seldom studied by art historians or displayed by museums. This sculpture has not been out of storage in more then thirty years. Ideas of what makes an artwork worthy of display have changed rapidly in recent years, however. Several of the museum's curators admire this figure's forcefulness and abstract sculptural style, and wonder if visitors will agree.

Skanda, a son of the deity Shiva, often serves as a guardian in temples to Shiva. He is also sometimes thought of as a god of war.