Bilvamangala series: Krishna Venerated by People and Animals (fol. no. 8)
Artist Unknown, India, Rajasthan, Mewar School
Description
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Krishna Venerated by People and Animals
Folio 8 from a dispersed Bilvamangala series
India, Rajasthan, Udaipur
circa 1700
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel and Dr. and Mrs. Steven J. Figiel, 1983/2.111
Among the many texts illustrated in Udaipur in the early eighteenth century were works by Bilvamangala, a devotee of Vishnu who wrote sets of devotional poems. The illustrations were often commissioned as an act of devotion. The series as a whole presents scenes of Vishnu being worshipped in his many forms. Here he appears as Krishna, worshipped by gopis (cow-herders, identifiable by their sticks), women, a nonchalant tiger, and an elephant.
Udaipur was the political and artistic center of Mewar, a powerful Rajput kingdom that successfully resisted the Mughals until the early seventeenth century, when it was brought into the Mughal political fold. By the end of that century, however, when this work was made, the style of Mewari painters showed little Mughal influence.
Subject Matter:
Appart of a series of works by Bilvamangala, a devotee of Vishnu who wrote sets of devotional poems. The series as a whole presents scenes of Vishnu being worshipped in his many forms. Here he appears as Krishna, worshipped by gopis (cow-herders, identifiable by their sticks), women, a nonchalant tiger, and an elephant.
Physical Description:
Ink, watercolor and gold on paper. Central figure, Vishnu with devotees on his right and left. Male figures are located on the left side of Vishnu and the female figures on the right. The animals are depicted on the lower half of the portrait which goes with traditional hierarchical beliefs. The tiger is on the left and the elephant on the right.
Usage Rights:
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