Large print guide

New perspectives on the ancient world

One of India's leading museums, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) in Mumbai, has worked with the British Museum on groundbreaking projects for many years.

Here, three British Museum sculptures from ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean and India have been brought together in conversation. The same approach was used in a recent collaborative exhibition in Mumbai that looked at ancient India's relationship with the world around it.

This co-curated display, developed by staff at CSMVS and the British Museum, poses intriguing questions for us all to consider.

Label on a plinth in front of the Vishnu sculpture

These sculptures reflect the varied ways a number of ancient civilisations imagined the divine and gave it physical form.

While the gods of ancient Egypt, the Greek world and Rome are no longer worshipped, India has maintained its traditions of sacred sculpture and religious practice.

Sculptures like these are rarely shown together. This display is the result of co-curation between Indian and British curators. It challenges ingrained habits and opens up a space for looking and thinking differently about ancient cultures.

Vishnu: god of preservation

South India, Pallava, AD 701–900
Granite
1961,1213.1

Ancient India gave rise to three important world religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Each developed their own artistic form and style. Hinduism has a large pantheon of gods depicted figuratively. At the core is the triad of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer.

Vishnu is seated here in the royal pose, with one hand raised in the gesture of reassurance. He holds a conch shell in his upper left hand, symbolising the primordial sound of Om from which the universe was created. A disc-shaped weapon in his upper right hand represents the regulation of cosmic order.

Vishnu wears a crown and an array of jewellery. With a hint of a smile, he gazes at the worshipper.

In contrast to the focus on the ideal human body in Greek and Roman art, Indian gods, like ancient Egyptian deities, often combine human and animal form to convey spiritual meaning.

Label on a plinth in front of the Sekhmet sculpture

Sekhmet: goddess of destruction

Karnak (ancient Thebes, Egypt);
18th Dynasty; about 1390–1352 BC
Granodiorite
EA84

Sekhmet – the powerful one – is an Egyptian goddess of fierce and violent character with the head of a lioness. She brings fever and disease but defends against them when appeased.

The sun-disc on her head shows her close connection with the sun-god Ra. In an important Egyptian myth, Sekhmet is the eye of Ra and a destroyer of his enemies. She clasps the ankh symbol of life, and a staff in the shape of a papyrus stem, a symbol of flourishing.

The sculpture was not finished, as the details of Sekhmet's dress and bracelets were never carved.

This and hundreds of similar sculptures of Sekhmet were commissioned by King Amenhotep III over three thousand years ago. There were probably two for each day of the year, one, as displayed here, striding (assertive) and one sitting (appeased).

Ancient Egypt had many gods that combined human and animal form to express their character more vividly. Such symbolic representations were also common in India.

Label on a plinth in front of the Dionysos sculpture

Dionysos or Bacchus: god of intoxication, abundance and rebirth

Found in Cyrene, Libya; Roman;
about AD 120–150
Marble
1861,0725.2

In the ancient Greek world, drinking wine was common social practice, and Dionysos (Roman Bacchus) was the god of wine and intoxication. Here, he stands relaxed, wearing sandals – his drapery slipping off, framing his toned body. He holds a bunch of grapes; the other hand probably carried a drinking vessel. His gaze is turned away, removing him into his own, otherworldly sphere.

Roman culture was heavily influenced by that of ancient Greece. Romans also depicted their gods mostly in human form, with human frailties and vices. Dionysos stands for divine fury, abandon, the power of nature and the important balance between excess and control. This sculpture served as a cult image in a temple, through which Dionysos was worshipped.

To an Indian audience, Dionysos' body might appear merely human, not god-like at all. Only a comparison with other Greek and Roman sculptures shows that this is a 'super-human', divine body, far removed from reality. Strikingly, such images shaped what is now a global beauty ideal.

Questions on the left wall

What benefits can be gained by sharing objects globally?
Why does Dionysos look away from us?
Why does Sekhmet have the head of a lioness?

Panel on the back wall of the room

Collection sharing

In India, there are very few ancient sculptures from other parts of the world in museums. In cooperation with Indian and international museum partners, the CSMVS Ancient World Project aims to give audiences in Mumbai for the first time direct and prolonged access to a large number of objects from a range of ancient world civilisations. These pieces are presented in dialogue with local material.

The project provides unprecedented learning opportunities for students in Indian schools and universities. CSMVS' educational programmes, such as the celebrated Museum on Wheels, reach families across the nation.

Collaboration

How we experience and interpret objects is influenced by our cultural background and preconceptions. Co-curation, a key element of the Mumbai Ancient World Project, enables collaborative dialogue between experts and brings different perspectives together.

Co-curation and cross-cultural exhibits will continue to inform the British Museum's future galleries and special exhibitions.

Label supporting the film on the right of the room

The value of global partnerships

CSMVS curators Joyoti Roy and Vaidehi Savnal discuss the Ancient World Gallery Project in Mumbai. This film includes footage of the exhibition installation and visitors engaging with objects. Sound can be accessed through the listening cups.

Running time 90 seconds
© CSMVS
© J. Paul Getty Trust

Transcript of the film on the right of the room

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai

Through the Ancient World Project, what we are trying to do is bring evidences of history from all over the world for our audiences in India. And what we believe these objects can do is present a connected story of the ancient world to the public today.

We had the opportunity to do a meeting with the curators, who are lending their objects from the British Museum, and we asked them some very Indian questions. And by Indian questions we mean questions that may come to the mind of an Indian person who is looking at these objects.

Why is it that a Greek god wears slippers?

Why are the Greek gods always shown in the nude?

We want our audiences to stand in front of these absolutely ancient, beautiful sculptures and marvel at them, but more importantly, ask questions about themselves and their histories. 

The idea really is to take the museum to people. It functions on the principle of, if you cannot come to the museum, the museum will come to you.

We have a set of museum replicas and you get to see them in this bus. When those doors open and they see things that have come in from all over the world I think it is something quite wondrous for them. It is about igniting that little spark in people's minds and then really watching that flourish.

Lead support for the Ancient World Project provided by Getty.

Questions on the right wall

Does seeing these three sculptures together change the way you understand them?
Why does Vishnu have four arms?
How can global co-curation unlock new insights?

To see more objects like these, visit the special exhibition, Ancient India: living traditions (22 May to 19 October 2025) in the Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery, or Room 33: China and South Asia, The Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery; Room 4: Egyptian sculpture; Room 22: The world of Alexander.

Acknowledgements

This display has been co-curated by CSMVS curators Joyoti Roy and Vaidehi Savnal and British Museum curator Thorsten Opper.

The British Museum's work with CSMVS and the wider Ancient World Project (including this display) is generously funded by Getty through its Sharing Collections in India initiative. This is an international partnership dedicated to promoting a global understanding of the ancient world through collaborative cross-cultural exhibitions and educational programmes.