Krishna's Manifest Endeavor

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Gallery 329, Asian Art, third floor (Lahiri Gallery)

Main Building

Krishna's Manifest Endeavor

c. 1680

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Colorful carpets and other textiles fill this painting from a dispersed series of the Rasikapriya, a text on love-rhetoric written in 1591 by Keshavadasa, court poet to the king of Orchha in central India. The Rasikapriya can be read on two levels, the human and the divine, since its hero is the god Krishna and its heroine is Krishna’s favorite, Radha. Here Radha’s sakhi (friend) confronts the blue-skinned god on behalf of the heroine, who waits in the second pavilion. The sakhi reminds Krishna that he has used many tactics to win Radha and asks why he hesitates to go to her now that she is nearby and waiting. While the scene takes place entirely in an enclosed architectural complex, the many flower-filled carpets evoke the verdant, blossoming trees that lie beyond the walls. The palace, in effect, is transformed into a fertile garden in bloom, an appropriate metaphor for Krishna and Radha’s relationship.

Gallery 329, Asian Art, third floor (Lahiri Gallery)

Object Details

Title:

Krishna's Manifest Endeavor
From a dispersed series of the Rasikapriya

Date:

c. 1680

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 12 × 6 7/8 inches (30.5 × 17.5 cm) Sheet: 15 1/8 × 10 3/8 inches (38.4 × 26.4 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Bequest of William P. Wood, 1996

Accession Number:

1996-120-5

Geography:

Made in Bundi, Rajasthan, India, Asia or made in Kota, India, Asia

Context:

Dynasty: Hada Chauhan Dynasty, Bundi (1569-1949) or Hada Chauhan Dynasty, Kota (1631-1948/1949?)

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Gallery 329, Asian Art, third floor (Lahiri Gallery)

Main Building

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