Untitled

Unknown

ca. 1540 · Opaque watercolor and ink on paper · Asian Art

The Bhagavata Purana describes Vishnu’s avatars with particular attention to his form as Krishna. In this painted folio, the demon Naraka and his consort are seen in the palace interior of their fortified city of Pragyotisha, overseeing a fierce battle scene. Krishna and his consort Satyabhama enter the fray, carried by Vishnu’s birdman mount, Garuda. The figure-types and soldier’s attire directly borrow from Muslim Sultanate-period painting conventions of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1540

Medium

Opaque watercolor and ink on paper

Culture

Northern India, Delhi or Agra region

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust Gift, 1985