album;
painting
- Museum number
- 1999,1202,0.5.5
- Title
- Object: The month of Savana
- 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.
The monsoon season is depicted here with lush greenery, peacocks hidden amongst the trees and a black sky with swirls of grey threatening thunderclouds and gold curls of lightning. Krishna and Radha are seated on a carpeted terrace in a house occupying the entire left section of the illustration. Radha tempts her beloved to stay by offering sweet delicacies. The festival of Teej is being celebrated in the foreground. Women bearing a clay statue of a female Goddess (possibly Gauri) advance toward the lotus filled pond where the murti (icon) will be submerged. A cowherd and his cows stand on the banks of the pond, (a symbolic reference to Krishna as the cowherd,) which adds to the charm of the painting.
- Production date
- 1675-1700 (circa)
- Dimensions
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Height: 30.50 centimetres (Image on page)
-
Height: 56 centimetres (Mount)
-
Height: 25.70 centimetres (painting including black and white margins)
-
Width: 21.70 centimetres (Image on page)
-
Width: 40.70 centimetres (Mount)
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Width: 16.50 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
-
Exhibited:
2007 Aug-Nov, London, The British Museum, Faith, Narrative and Desire.
2015-2016 Dec-Mar, Seoul Arts Centre, The Human Image
- Associated titles
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Associated Title: Baramasa
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Associated Title: Songs of the Seasons
- Acquisition date
- 1999
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1999,1202,0.5.5
