The concept of Divinity as a power above humanity and beyond full human comprehension, intangible but none the less vividly experienced intuitively, has been a major source of inspiration for the visual arts. It prompted, over the millennia, emanations of the spiritual that were often great and memorable works of art. Aspects of the divine could be represented in diverse ways ranging from abstract symbols to images in human, animal or combined human and animal forms. The ancient Greeks conceived their gods and goddesses in idealized human forms with attributes to indicate their divinity – as Aphrodite or Apollo , for instance – and this practice was taken over by the Christians for their saints. The prohibition of graven images in the Second Commandment, however, prevented them using it as regards God the Father except in narrative scenes where the image could not be mistaken for an idol to be worshipped. Muslims also abominated idolatry and were as rigorous as the Christians in their respect for the prohibition and even more so in destroying the religious art of the countries their over – ran, notably in the Indian sub – continent. Yet nowhere have the possibilities of giving concrete form to the abstract concept of divinity been more subtly explored than in Hindu sculpture.
The earliest Indian scriptures, the Vedas (C. BC 1300 – 600 ) and the Upanishads ( C. BC 800 – 500 )embody lofty metaphysical doctrines that could be fully understood only by the initiated. They make no concessions to the common human demand for divinities that can be visualized. In the later
And more accessible Bhagavad Gita of the second century BC, however, the warrior Arjuna arks
Krishna, avatar of Vishnu, god of gods, to show himself in his Supreme Being: he was vouchsafed: