album;
painting
- Museum number
- 1999,1202,0.5.6
- Title
- Object: The month of Jyestha. May/June.
- 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 bright scorching sun of summer is painted in a clear still blue sky. Krishna and Radha inebriated from the heat are fanned by lady attendants seated under what appears to be a thatched awning erected during the summer months to provide shade. In front of the terrace water fountains cool the seated couple. A lady attendant gestures invitingly to the bed chamber in which an ornate, gold covered bed with cushions await the lovers. In the foreground an elephant, tiger and birds all head toward a pond in order to cool themselves from the scorching heat, while a snake takes shelter under a bush. Beyond a garden wall men rest exhausted from the heat; another man and his bullock cart head for the well.
- Production date
- 1675-1700 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 30.30 centimetres (page)
-
Height: 26 centimetres (painting including black and white margins)
-
Width: 18.50 centimetres
-
Width: 22.50 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.
- Associated titles
Associated Title: Baramasa (Songs of the Seasons)
- Acquisition date
- 1999
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1999,1202,0.5.6
