Figure of Vishnu; Cambodia, Khmer Empire, Pre-Angkor Period, Prei Khmeng Style, 635-700.

Figure of Vishnu; Cambodia, Khmer Empire, Pre-Angkor Period, Prei Khmeng Style, 635-700.
Sandstone.
Measurements: 82 x 34 x 12 cm: 92 cm (height with base).
Sculpture carved in stone representing the god Vishnu. Outside India, this divinity acquires its own attributes, as we see in this Cambodian piece. Usually this god is represented as a being of human form, blue skin and four arms holding the lotus flower, a conch shell, a golden mace and a ring. He is frequently seen seated, resting on a lotus flower, with his consort Laksmi sitting on one of his knees. In this case, his face exudes serenity, given the symmetry of his features.
The Prei Khmeng style (635-700 AD) is a period of Cambodian art characterized by smaller sandstone sculptures with a greater degree of ornamentation than previous styles, although with problems of architectural integrity. This religious style combined Hinduism (Brahmanism) and Mahayana Buddhism, and its structures tended to have larger colonnettes than those of the preceding style, Sambor Prei Kuk.
It is generally accepted that the Pre-Angkor period begins with the fall of Fu-nan and ends, not with the founding of Angkor, which did not take place until the late ninth century, but with the introduction (in the first half of the ninth century) of the rites on which the Angkor monarchy would be based. The oldest (Buddhist) images are not earlier than the middle of the 6th century. The somewhat later Brahmanic monuments (early 7th century and later period) already show some of the traditional characteristics of Khmer architecture. Only a few outstanding examples of pre-Angkorian art exist. This period marks the beginnings of the Khmer world, in which a distinctive personality is gradually asserted, although generally still under foreign influences. Belief in the cult of the "god-king" does not yet exist. However, the art of this period lays the foundations of sculptural symbolism and inaugurates architectural forms that will be reused and improved later. Pre-Angkorian statuary shows an Indian influence, but the anatomical representation is less dramatic.