STATUE D'UN COUPLE AMOUREUX, POSSIBLEMENT BALARAMA ET REVATI, EN GRÈS ROUGEINDE CENTRALE, VERS XIE SIÈCLE57.5 cm (22 5/8 in.) highProvenance: A RED SANDSTONE AMOUROUS COUPLE, POSSIBLY BALARAMA AND REVATICENTRAL INDIA, CIRCA 11TH CENTURY印度中部 約十一世紀 紅砂岩愛侶像 或為大力羅摩與离婆底Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970sA divine couple, embracing side by side with amorous affection is presented here in an intimate portrayal. Consistent in iconography to other divine couples, this pair is nevertheless presented in reverse order with the female figure to the right of her malepanion. This flippedorientation can also be seen on a sculpture of the divine couple of Balarama, holding a mace, and Revati on the exterior of the Parsvanatha Jain temple at Khajaraho (see Desai,Khajuraho, Oxford, 2000, p. 73).Framed by a scalloped panel with inverted trefoils, the male, possibly Balarama, identified by the nagas in his hair, faces frontally embracing his lover, or wife Revati, with the right hand fondling her breast. His left arm stretches down to this thigh to accentuate the swaying posture which is matched by the female. She holds a flower in her right hand while her left arm rests tenderly on his shoulder. Along the side of the females' feet kneels a small gana-like figure holding a staff.Compare with a related example in the Norton Simon Museum (Pal,Art from the Indian Subcontinent, 2003, p. 144, no. 102).