A folio from the Gita Govinda: Krishna praises Ardhanarishvara

INDIA, RAJASTHAN, LATE 17TH CENTURY

Details

A folio from the Gita Govinda: Krishna praises Ardhanarishvara
India, Rajasthan, late 17th Century
Depicting Krishna at center in a forest grove feeding Radha, with Ardhanarishvara at left and Shiva seated above being visited by peris with Kama shooting his arrow from a tree followed by Indra on his white elephant within a starry sky, numbered 9 and with a collector's stamp on the verso
Opaque pigments and gold on wasli
11 3/8 x 9¼ in. (29.8 x 23.4 cm.)

Provenance

Collection of Kumar Sangram Singh of Nawalgarh, painting no. B-45
George P. Bickford Collection, acquired by 7 February 1964
Private collection, New York, by inheritance

Exhibited

On loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 7 February 1964 - 12 September 1980

Sale room notice

This painting has been recently re-identified as an illustration from a dispersed series of the Gita Gauri from Rajasthan, circa 1675-80. For another painting from the same manuscript, see the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, accession number 66.124. Many thanks to Harsha Dehejia, Daniel Ehnbom and Joan Cummins for their collective expertise.

Lot Essay

The Gita Govinda describes the divine love affair between Krishna and Radha in beautiful lyric poetry. In the present scene Krishna bemoans his estragement from his beloved by extolling the virtues of Ardhanarishvara, the form of Shiva that unites Shiva with Parvati in a single, vertically bifurcated, body. Here Krishna visualizes himself sharing a thali with Radha before uniting with her eternally.

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