The sweet-sharp heroine, folio from a Rasikapriya

Object Details

• Court

  Mewar Court

• School/Tradition

  Rajput school

• Label

  Here, a palace garden with domed kiosk and fountains is integrated into a larger landscape of fertile farmlands beneath a radiant sun. This richly detailed folio illustrates a verse from the Rasikapriya, a court poem that describes the Hindu god Krishna as the ideal hero and lover. The garden's pastoral yet princely setting provides an appropriate locale for Krishna's romance with his beloved Radha.

  The pavilion-with an open porch, fountain, and raised walkways, through which water channels run-is a typical feature of seventeenth-century Indian princely gardens, cultivated by both Hindu and Muslim nobility. The bold palette of primary colors, as well as the smiling sun, indicates that the painting was produced for the court of Mewar in Rajasthan.

• Provenance

  Maharaja of Bikaner, Sangram Singh

  From 1970 to 1984

  Toby Falk (1942-1997), London, purchased in 1970

  From 1984 to 2011

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Los Angeles, purchased from Toby Falk in 1984 [1]

  From 2011

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Cathy Glynn Benkaim

  Notes:

  [1] According to information from Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur (November 19, 2022 to May 14, 2023)

  East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Maharaja of Bikaner Singram Singh

  Toby Falk (1942-1997)

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Udaipur, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1650s, 1660s

• Name

  Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Singh, Singram, Falk, Toby

• Place

  Udaipur, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Sisodia dynasty (861 - 1947), Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Gardens

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings