Botticelli in Delhi

The Humayun Tomb Museum has a special exhibition called ‘One Mother, Many Mother Tongues’ which explores how the concept of motherhood has been a constant motif in civilizations across millennia both in the East and the West.

With just a few pieces from various Indian and Italian collections, the exhibition was quite interesting. By focussing on civilizations ranging from Italy to Buddhist Gandhara to Hindu India to Renaissance Christianity, its central question was around how the image of the mother has been used to express ideas around protection, fertility, disease, power etc. This introduction by the Italian Cultural Center had a good description of the exhibits.

Even before Mary, Devi, Hariti and the Saptamatrikas evolved, the idea of a woman with a child has always been an evocative motif. (Hariti, I got to know was a Buddhist child-devouring demon who transformed into a benign, kind figure after being pardoned by the Buddha. The Saptamatrikas – Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chamunda – or the warrior goddesses were familiar to me as one of my nieces is named after one of them.)

The centrepiece of the exhibition was the Boticelli representing the seated Madonna with a child. After seeing a few of his works at the Uffizi a couple of months back, it was pleasant to again encounter a work of his in a location that I could reach by an auto.

The exhibition runs until 8th August. Check it out if you’re in Delhi.