INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, MANDI, SCHOOL OF SAJNU, CIRCA 1820

Scenes of the Holy Family in domestic bliss were a popular theme with Pahari painters. In these scenes, Shiva is transformed and humanized from the wild ascetic to a doting husband and father though still retaining trappings of his divine status. Mandi ruler Raja Isvari Sen, as a devout follower of Shiva, provided the impetus for these commissions. According to W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, 1973, vol. 1, pp. 361-66, Sajnu, native to Guler, left his Kangra patron, Sansar Chand, and came to work for Raja Isvari Sen of Mandi in 1808 after turmoil forced him from the Kangra kingdom. Sajnu brought to Mandi a new era of court painting, heavily influenced by the masterful painters of Kangra and Guler. This phase of painting was termed ‘Phase Two’ by W.G. Archer, who describes this change in style as a ‘revolutionary break’ from the ‘bold, primitive’ and ‘at times, crude’ style of Phase One (circa 1700-1800).
In the present painting, their sons are absent as the divine couple appear lost in each other’s gaze. Shiva gently rests his arm on his loyal bull, Nandi. The scene is at dusk, highlighted by the brilliant gold skyline. The oval format, decorative floral borders and flowing line are elements of the Kangra style that came into vogue in the latter eighteenth-century influenced from Mughal court painting. The Guler style is exemplified by the jagged abstract rock formations, delicate palette, and geometrical compositions that Archer states "at times violates realism for the sake of geometric drama." Another painting attributed to Sajnu depicting Shiva and Parvati along with their children Ganesha and Karttikeya sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2002, lot 146.