Jarasandha’s army advances toward Krishna and Balarama, folio from a Mahabharata

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Purkhu (active ca. 1780-ca. 1820)

• School/Tradition

  Kangra school

• Inscriptions

  Recto: The names of the principal figures have been inscribed on the painting.

  (Upper right, on the white wall of the thatched hut) Krishna, Balibhadra [another name for Balarama who is also called Bali and Balabhadra]

  (Upper left, on the blue bolster behind the king’s knee) Jarasandha

  Verso: (top center) numerals 38 in takri

  Verso: (top center) numerals 38 in takri

• Label

  Purkhu was the master of a large workshop in Kangra, a kingdom in the state that is today Himachal Pradesh, during the reign of a renowned patron of the arts, Maharaja Sansar Chand (r. 1775 - 1823). Purkhu and his workshop produced numerous portraits of Kangra's courtiers and several narrative series with oversize folios, including the Harivamsa.

  This Harivamsa folio exemplifies Purkhu's brilliant coloring and his uncanny ability to create a magical landscape. It is as if the Himalayan peaks described in Sanskrit epic poetry have become real, with kinnaras (bird-headed figures) among celestial beauties and sages who dwell amid jewel-studded crags.

  On the mountain, Krishna and Balarama sit beside a thatched hut and calmly gesture toward a swirling cloud of dust. At the center of the oncoming mass of soldiers, Jarasandha, the tyrannical king of Magadha, is shown largest in scale. Lest there be any confusion, his name is written in devanagari on the side of his golden chariot.

• Provenance

  To 1968

  Antique Arts, Bombay, India. [1]

  From 1968 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Antique Arts, Bombay, India in June 1968. [2]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [3]

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in 1968 from Antique Arts, Bombay, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Antique Arts

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Kangra, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1820s, 1790s

• Name

  Antique Arts, Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn

• Place

  Kangra, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Wars, Art, Soldiers, Krishna, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Balarama, Mahabharata

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings