Sugriva Fights Valin, Then Begs Rama for Help

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Sugriva Fights Valin, Then Begs Rama for Help

Late 18th - early 19th century

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Drawings reveal the process by which paintings were created. This artist began by sketching his scenes on an unprimed sheet of paper. At left, the monkey king Valin fights his brother Sugriva, while at right, Sugriva appeals to Rama for help. The names of the main characters are inscribed above their heads. Although Hanuman is not mentioned, he is probably one of the monkeys at far right. After drawing the scenes, the artist would have primed the paper with white paint, polished it, and then added color. Because the painting is unfinished, the loose but sure hand of the artist is revealed, lending an extraordinary vitality to the fight.

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Object Details

Title:

Sugriva Fights Valin, Then Begs Rama for Help
Page from an unfinished series of the Ramayana

Date:

Late 18th - early 19th century

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Ink on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 7 1/4 × 10 3/16 inches (18.4 × 25.9 cm) Sheet: 7 3/4 × 10 9/16 inches (19.7 × 26.8 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Gift of Barbara Stoler Miller in honor of Stella Kramrisch, 1986

Accession Number:

1986-111-2

Geography:

Made in Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia

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