Dancing Shiva X-rayed by Rijksmuseum: Indian masterpiece shown to be solid bronze

ARTDAILY

X-ray of the Shiva statue in the lorry.
The dark solid shading indicates solid bronze casting.

DENMARK - Research recently revealed that the Rijksmuseum’s monumental bronze statue of Shiva was cast in solid bronze. The thousand year-old temple statue was X-rayed, along with the lorry transporting it, in the most powerful X-ray tunnel for containers of the Rotterdam customs authority. It is the first research of its kind on a museological masterpiece. The Rijksmuseum’s Shiva is the largest known bronze statue from the Chola Dynasty (9th to 12th century) kept in a museological collection outside of India. This solid bronze Shiva is evidence of a high level of mastery of bronze casting, as well as just how highly prized such statues were in the Hindu faith. [link]