Friday, May 28, 2010

Sackler Gallery exhibits 'Gods of Angkor' bronzes from Cambodia

The Sackler's 36-piece exhibition includes bronzes of Shiva's elephant-headed son Ganesha and a crowned Buddha, above, from the 12th century. (Images From National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh)
Friday, May 28, 2010
By Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer

There are only 36 works on display in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's latest exhibition, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes From the National Museum of Cambodia." Maybe twice that, if you count all the extra arms and heads.
Gods, you see, are not like us.
The show -- a jewel box of mostly smallish sculptures in three tiny galleries -- centers on devotional figures of Shiva, Vishnu and other Hindu deities, several of whom are depicted with anywhere from four to 10 arms, and as many as five heads. One, in the case of Shiva's son Ganesha, has the head of an elephant.

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