Maharao Ram Singh I of Kota Plays Nanda (recto); Krishna Enthroned (verso)

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Maharao Ram Singh I of Kota Plays Nanda (recto); Krishna Enthroned (verso)

c. 1700

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Indian painters found many clever ways to please their patrons and add layers of meaning to their works. Here several toddlers play in front of a seated man who holds a blue-skinned child on his lap. The child is the young Krishna and the man is Nanda, Krishna's adoptive father and chief of the cowherd community in which Krishna was raised. However, the artist has given Nanda the facial features of his own patron, Rao Ram Singh I of Kota (1696-1707). By "becoming" Nanda, the Kota ruler also becomes the protector of the infant Krishna. In reality, Krishna was often considered the true ruler of Kota, and the kings styled themselves as his deputies.

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Object Details

Title:

Maharao Ram Singh I of Kota Plays Nanda (recto); Krishna Enthroned (verso)
Possibly a page from a dispersed series of the Bhagavata Purana (Story of the Lord Vishnu)

Date:

c. 1700

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, mounted on paper board

Dimensions:

Image (a): 8 1/4 × 6 1/4 inches (21 × 15.9 cm) Image (b): 7 13/16 × 6 1/4 inches (19.8 × 15.9 cm) Sheet: 11 1/4 × 9 5/16 inches (28.6 × 23.7 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

125th Anniversary Acquisition. Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2004

Accession Number:

2004-149-63a,b

Geography:

Made in Kota, Rajasthan, India, Asia

Context:

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

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