INDIA, RAJASTHAN, MALWA OR MEWAR, 1540-60

細節

A Page from a Bhagavata Purana manuscript: Krishna Refusing the Crown of Mathura
India, Rajasthan, Malwa or Mewar, 1540-60
Krishna at center in blue refusing to accept a gold crown offered to him from a green basket, his brother Balarama standing behind him wearing a blue dhoti, a supplicant at Krishna's feet with two figures standing next to a green walled pavillion with bedchamber, a makara gargoyle at corner of roof with banner flying against a black hillside and blue sky, with pink steps and lotus pool in foreground and with inscription above and four-line inscription on reverse in devanagari script
7 x 9 in (17.8 x 22.8 cm.)

來源

Collection of Stuart Cary Welch, sold at Sotheby's London, 12 December 1972, lot 82

拍品專文

The incident occurs after the slaying of Krishna's maternal uncle Kamsa. Krishna refuses the crown on the grounds that the rightful king of Mathura, Ugrasena, still lives.
Cf. A. Poster, Realms of Heroism: Indian Paintings in the Brooklyn Museum, 1994, pp. 53-54, for other examples from this pivotal manuscript. Poster notes that these 16th century Bhagavata Purana leaves establish the existence of a pre-Mughal style as one of the earliest extant series that combines indigenous Indian qualities with foreign influences resulting in compostions of bold colors and great liveliness. Other leaves from this series are in the British Museum, the Fogg Art Museum, the Cleveland Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, and in various private collections.