Shiva as Nataraja Enshrined with Deities

This painting would have been an object of devotion in a personal shrine. It depicts Shiva as the Lord of the Dance in a circle of fire, flanked by his son, Ganesha, and wife Meenakshi. Fanned by two celestial deities overhead, they appear underneath the gilt roof of a south Indian temple, pointing to the painting’s place of origin in Tamil Nadu, southeastern India. Below, the avatars of Vishnu and an assortment of planetary deities pay homage to the dancing deity. They stand between two small shrines at each corner, one devoted to the multiheaded god Brahma, and the other to the blue-skinned Vishnu.