MEWAR, INDIA, CIRCA 1605-1610 AD

The two illustrations depict the Pandava brothers in exile. On one side they are shown in ascetic costume walking along a river, on the other they are depicted killing the monster Balvara at a ford. This is a fine example of Mewari painting which Mughal art has just began to influence. The manuscript was probably painted at a satellite Mewari court for a more humble patron than the rulers of Mewar.

Two other leaves from the same manuscript are in Williams College (83.18.3, 83.18.4, Christopher Noey and Janet Temos, Art of India, Williams College Museum of Art, 1994, pp.52-53) . Another folio was in the Ehrenfeld Collection (Daniel Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures, The Ehrenfeld Collection, 1985, cat.49, pp.112-113).