The sweet-sharp heroine, folio from a Rasikapriya
Object Details
- Court
- Mewar Court
- School/Tradition
- Rajput school
- Label
- Here, a palace garden with domed kiosk and fountains is integrated into a larger landscape of fertile farmlands beneath a radiant sun. This richly detailed folio illustrates a verse from the Rasikapriya, a court poem that describes the Hindu god Krishna as the ideal hero and lover. The garden's pastoral yet princely setting provides an appropriate locale for Krishna's romance with his beloved Radha.
- The pavilion-with an open porch, fountain, and raised walkways, through which water channels run-is a typical feature of seventeenth-century Indian princely gardens, cultivated by both Hindu and Muslim nobility. The bold palette of primary colors, as well as the smiling sun, indicates that the painting was produced for the court of Mewar in Rajasthan.
- Provenance
- Maharaja of Bikaner, Sangram Singh
- From 1970 to 1984
- Toby Falk (1942-1997), London, purchased in 1970
- From 1984 to 2011
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Los Angeles, purchased from Toby Falk in 1984 [1]
- From 2011
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Cathy Glynn Benkaim
- Notes:
- [1] According to information from Catherine Glynn Benkaim.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur (November 19, 2022 to May 14, 2023)
- East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Maharaja of Bikaner Singram Singh
- Toby Falk (1942-1997)
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim
- Credit Line
- Purchase from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- ca. 1660
- Period
- Sisodia dynasty, Reign of Raj Singh
- Accession Number
- F2011.5
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (Sheet): 29 × 23.5 cm (11 7/16 × 9 1/4 in)
- H x W x D (exhibition frame): 53.3 × 43.2 × 4.4 cm (21 × 17 × 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)
- garden
- India
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
- Record ID
- fsg_F2011.5
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye38986fdc0-83f0-4b2f-85b6-0534027abae4
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