Women Greet a Horseman from the Mahâbhârata
Artist Unknown, India, Maharashtra, Paithan School
Description
This painting, along with two others in UMMA's collection (1975/.2.150 & 1975/2.151) is an example of a double-sided folio from an illustrated series of scenes from the Mahâbhârata, one of the great epic tales of South Asia. Paintings of this type are known as 'Paithan' paintings, after the town where they were discovered in the twentieth century. Such works are large in scale and exceptionally bold in style. The pages would have been held aloft for an audience to view while a narrator would recite the Mahâbhârata in song and verse.
Two pages of a similar manuscript are published in Simon Ray, 'Indian & Islamic Works of Art, April 2007, catalog no. 60. See also Anna L. Dallapiccola, 'Die Paithan Maleri,' (Wiesbaden, 1980).; Anonymous
Women Greet a Horseman from the Mahâbhârata
India, Maharashtra, Paithan school
Early to mid-19th century
Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink for the
James Marshall Plumer Memorial Collection, 1970/2.166
Subject Matter:
This painting depicts a scene from the Mahâbhârata, a sanskrit epic poem about the Kurukshetra War. Paintings of this type are known as 'Paithan' paintings, after the town where they were discovered in the twentieth century. Such works are large in scale and exceptionally bold in style. The pages would have been held aloft for an audience to view while a narrator would recite the Mahâbhârata in song and verse.
Physical Description:
Three women look toward a man and white horse. The man holds a sword with his left hand and his body is in frontal view while his face is in profile. The horse is ornately decorated; its body has orange and green vegetal motifs all over. The horse's saddle is decorated with a green mustached face with large round eyes. The horse and the other figures have prominant almond shape eyes.
Usage Rights:
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