Object Details
- Artist
- Attributed to Master of the Jagged Water's Edge
- Court
- Mewar Court
- School/Tradition
- Rajput school
- Label
- The lower part of this painting depcits Muazzam Shah Alam, a Mughal prince, visiting Tulsidas, the poet and saint who authored a 16th-century version of the Ramayana (Story of Rama). The inscription, written in a dialect of Hindi called Braj, says that the prince asked Tulsidas why Hindus worship stones. Tulsidas quoted from his poem, the Kavitavali (Necklace of Poems), which tells the story of Prahlad, a boy who worshipped Rama (a form of Vishnu) despite his father's opposition. Challenged by his father, who asked "Where is Rama?" the boy answered "He is everywhere." "Is he in this pillar?" the father asked. "Yes," the boy said. Then as depicted in the upper register, Narasimha, the man-lion form of Vishnu, jumped out and attacked the father until the boy asked him to stop. Tulsidas explained that this incident convinced people that god is everywhere, and since that time they have worshipped stones.
- Provenance
- By 1972
- Switzerland, by 1972 [1]
- To 1986
- Spink & Son, Ltd., London, to 1986
- From 1986
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Spink & Son, Ltd. in 1986
- Notes:
- [1] According to correspondence in the object file, Douglas Barrett, formerly Keeper of Oriental Antiquities at the British Museum, confirmed that he had seen and examined this
- object in Switzerland in 1972 (see Curatorial Note 6 in object record).
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur (November 19, 2022 to May 14, 2023)
- Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)
- South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Spink & Son Ltd. (established 1666)
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- 1710-1712
- Period
- Sisodia dynasty, Reign of Amar Singh II
- Accession Number
- F1986.13
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (overall): 49.2 × 44.6 cm (19 3/8 × 17 9/16 in)
- H x W x D (exhibition frame): 73.6 × 63.5 × 4.4 cm (29 × 25 × 1 3/4 in)
- Origin
- Udaipur, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- Sisodia dynasty (861 - 1947)
- poet
- India
- prince
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- Record ID
- fsg_F1986.13
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3aed0e907-3788-4fa2-9436-e89963cf7dd4
