PaintingsIndian19th century

Shrinathji in a Shrine Flanked by Worshipers

19th century

Description

At the center of the image is a shrine with a life-size idol of Shrinathji, a form of the Hindu god Krishna, who himself is the eighth avatar of Vishnu. Shrinathji is depicted with his iconic dark blue skin and pose. He wears a crown topped with a large peacock fan; rings, a nose ring, bracelets, armlets, long strands of pearls that reach his ankles, a large, long garland that hits the floor, a wide orange and red skirt, and orange trousers. His left arm is raised about his head. He holds in his right hand a long-stemmed flower with two buds. Flanking the shrine on each side is a worshipper. A female worshipper stands on the right. She wears a blue dress with a yellow shawl that covers her head and runs down almost to the hem of her skirt. On the left is a male worshipper. He wears a red shirt with red trousers. The style in which the painting is executed, with the yellow and white dots, was a popular local idiom that also parallels textile patterns in the area of Nathadwara.

Classification

Paintings

Medium

Pigment on cloth

Culture

Indian

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

18.4 x 13.9 cm (7 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.)

Provenance

[Popli Brothers], Apollo Bunder Road, Bombay (Mumbai) (December 29, 1953). Purchase by L.C. and P. Wyman, American couple; gift to Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury (1960s); purchase by Kathy Burton Jones [Norman Hurst], Hurst Gallery, 53 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge (2004); gift to Harvard Art Museum (2009).