PROBABLY MEWAR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, CIRCA 1780-1800

In order to rescue his beloved Sita from the clutches of the demon-king Ravana, the hero Rama requires the help not only of his brother Lakshman, but also an army of monkeys and bears. This scene is likely taken from an early scene in the story, before they discover that Sita is on the island of Lanka. While Rama and Lakshman conspire in the middle, the army swirl expectantly around them, led by the monkey-king Sugreeva and his loyal general, Hanuman.

Though this is in many ways a puzzling painting, it most closely resembles those produced in the region of Mewar. A possible more specific place of origin is Nathdwara: Rama’s puckered face closely resembles the Srinathji paintings so typical of that school, while the ranks of animals evoke the herds of cows which occasionally appear in Pichhwais. However, the arrayed ranks of anthropomorphic soldiers, and the way in which the artist has imaginatively and subtly varied their appearance to make each figure appear as an individual, may also be compared with large procession scenes typical of paintings from Udaipur. Yet the composition of the ranks of monkeys and bears also show similarity to two illustrations depicting the Siege of Lanka which have been attributed to the Guler artist Manaku circa 1725, and are kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. nos. 19.24.1 and 19.24.2) which further confuses the attribution of the present lot.

Mewar is also famous as the place where, in the seventeenth century, one of the most beautiful Ramayana manuscripts was produced. The so-called Mewar Ramayana is the most heavily illustrated example known to survive today. The story held particular importance for the ruling family, who claimed descent from the Sun and as such considered Rama a direct ancestor.