Vishnu with lion and boar heads
8th century
Copper alloy
H. 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.43

Vishnu is an important deity in the Hindu pantheon. He descends to earth in one of ten avatars or guises, two of which are depicted in this sculpture: the lion and the boar. As a giant boar, an animal symbolic of sovereignty and majesty, Vishnu rescued the earth during a great flood. The lion refers to Vishnu's Narasimha incarnation as a man-lion.