album;
painting
- Museum number
- 1999,1202,0.5.2
- Title
- Object: The month of Pausha. December/January.
- Description
-
One of a series of eight paintings bound in an album. The series are from a 'Baramasa' set or 'Songs of the seasons' providing visual imagery for Baramasa poetry. The main theme is that of nayakas' and nayikas' (lovers) love in union and in separation and their relationship with the months of the year.
In this cold month Krishna and Radha are shown seated on a terrace covered with warm shawls, a tray of betelnut near them. The blue skinned Krishna, crowned with a single lotus blossom on a gold crown over an orange turban is resplendent in a gold patterned tunic over gold and orange striped pyjamas leaning on an aquamarine cushion. The starkness of the white architectural setting is broken by green tiled flooring, stairs leading up to a terrace where the lovers sit, green awning, and by richly coloured carpets in blues, yellows and oranges. A man is being massaged by oil in a room off the courtyard, to the right of the picture plane. Another bare chested man awaits his turn in another small room off the courtyard, while two men draped in shawls warm themselves in front of an open fire in the courtyard. The sun is setting in the distant horizon over a yellow landscape indicating the dry winter months. However, the Bundi penchant for greenery and foliage is evident; the artist could not help but include some trees beyond the courtyard walls.
- Production date
- 1675-1700 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 30.20 centimetres (page)
-
Height: 25.70 centimetres (painting including black and white margins)
-
Width: 17.50 centimetres
-
Width: 21.70 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- This series seems to be drawn, composed and coloured by one artist and is so similar to a Bundi Baramasa painting in Pal, P. 'Dancing to the Flute', p.88, as to suggest them belonging to the same series. The similarity in foliage depiction, architectural details such as the predominant use of white and green, patterning on walls and rooftops, Krishna's face presenting a distinctive profile with large Bundi eye and prominent nose in all paintings in this series point to the hand of one master artist. Krishna's crown on top of an orange turban is present in all of the paintings including the one in Pal, '97, which further corroborates these belonging to the same series.
This early Bundi series has a vibrant spirit that is imparted by the interplay of brilliant colours, intense emotional cross currents between the lovers that convey the bhakti or devotion of the times, and a lyricism that makes the paintings come alive. The emphasis on diagonal lines impart movement; the lush vegetation and sensuous figures all contribute to the dynamic vibrancy of these works. The figures are modelled and shaded after Mughal painting to impart volume.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2007 Aug-Nov London, The British Museum, Faith, Narrative and Desire.
- Associated titles
Associated Title: Baramasa (Songs of the Seasons)
- Acquisition date
- 1999
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1999,1202,0.5.2
