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Pair of Earrings with Vishnu Riding Garuda
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
These earrings were made to hang on large bronze sculptures of deities worshipped in Nepalese temples. Nepalese craftsmen excelled at the detailed encrustation of jewels to depict complex figural imagery. They shaped gold wires into a framework, then inserted polished stones into the spaces, held in place with an adhesive. Four-armed Vishnu is made of sapphires; his mount the man-eagle appears to be made of carnelian and spinel with wings of turquoise.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePair of Earrings with Vishnu Riding Garuda, 1600s or 1700s. Gold set with precious and semiprecious stones. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade, 1915.342
