1973.155: Gopi Imploring Krishna to go to Radha (painting, recto; text, verso), folio from a Satsaiya (Seven Hundred Verses) series

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1973.155

Title

Gopi Imploring Krishna to go to Radha (painting, recto; text, verso), folio from a Satsaiya (Seven Hundred Verses) series

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript folio

Date

18th century

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India, Rajasthan, Mewar

Culture

Indian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/216254

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.

Dimensions

22.86 x 20.32 cm (9 x 8 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of John Kenneth Galbraith

Accession Year

1973

Object Number

1973.155

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The recto side of this folio features Krishna, the eighth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu who is worshipped as a deity in his own right, conversing with a gopi (milkmaid). She implores the deity to visit Radha, Krishna’s consort, depicted on the left, lovesick and lying on a daybed. Near Radha is Balarama, Krishna’s eldest brother, hunting among trees. A group of hunters carrying recurved bows hunt near the bank of a river. Rajput Style, Marwar School.

Publication History

• Stuart Cary Welch and Milo Cleveland Beach, Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks Northern Indian Painting from Two Traditions, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1965), page 81/figure 37a
• John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff, ed., The Divine Consort: Radha and the godesses of India, Berkeley Religious Studies (Berkeley, California, 1982), Pg. 142 Color Plate 3

Exhibition History

• Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks - Revisited: Northern Indian Miniatures from two Traditions, Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/31/1990 - 06/10/1990
• From India's Hills and Plains: Rajput Painting from the Punjab and Rajasthan, 17th through 19th Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/1993 - 10/31/1993
• Rasika, the Discerning Connoisseur: Indian Paintings from the John Kenneth Galbraith Collection, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/1998 - 04/05/1998

Verification Level