"Solanki Raga", Folio from a Ragamala

Unknown

ca. 1590 · Ink and opaque watercolor on paper · Islamic Art

Some of the earliest depictions of musical modes in Indian painting originated in the Deccan, at centers such as Ahmadnagar, where images like this form the visual expression of the mood and sentiment of a classical raga, or musical composition. Conceived of as family groups, the main ragas have wives (raginis) and offspring (ragaputras), which are personified in painting by an established iconography and also often accompanied by written verses. Here, seen through an arched opening, three sari-clad women meet in a flowering garden around a tree, with the raga identified as solanki, in both devanagari and Persian.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1590

Medium

Ink and opaque watercolor on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1972