The two artworks I have chose are the Goddess Uma and Armored Guardian King Trampling Demon. The reason why I chose these sculptures are because I thought the Goddess Uma was interesting in beauty because she has four arms, has very long and skinny legs, and just the way the top of the body was formed. I chose the Armored Guardian King Tramping Demon because the colors intrigued me and he looked strong and was wondering at first what was he was standing on, his costume was well detailed and the way his head was not colored at all was also interesting.
Goddess Uma is from Vietnam in the Champa period, 9th/10th century. It is made of Bronze but developed green patina, it 's size is 74.7 x 23.5 x 23.5 cm. Her posture is standing up right and has four arms, two upright, and the other two in front of her, skinny torso, long legs, wearing a hat, and shows her not having any clothes but a long skirt and shows her breasts.
Champa was an Indic civilization that flourished along the coasts of what is now central and southern Vietnam or roughly a one thousand year period between 500 AD and 1500 AD. (Art of Champa, Wiki) Uma is one aspect of the Great Goddess of Indian mythology known as Devi “the Goddess.” She is considered Shiva 's wife, and can take several forms, from the gentle Parvati to the fierce Durga to the destroyer Kali.
Although her attributes do not offer positive identification, this four-armed goddess appears to be Uma, also known as Parvati, the divine mate of the Hindu god Shiva. She is daughter of the Himalayas, who waited for Shiva to court her, singing and dancing and making herself beautiful. But the ascetic Shiva took no notice. She then sought to impress him by living an austere life herself. She was so committed to this path that she changed the color of her skin from its original black to gold. In this form she became know as Uma, which means "light" or "beauty." The goddess 's sturdy and well-proportioned body parallels the
Bibliography: Gardner’s Art Through The Ages http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/152836?search_no=35&index=53 http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/35367?search_no=28&index=17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_Champa http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/uma.html