Inscribed in Devanagari in the yellow panel above with the text of Keshav Das’s Rasikapriya on the Anukul nayaka (2.5) and on the verso with the date of entry of ‘this painting of Radha and Krishna’ into an unnamed collection on the ninth day of the bright half of Karttika in Samvat 1809 (1752-53 C.E.)
Provenance:
Moti Chandra, Mumbai
Pramod Chandra, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1964-2014
American Private Collection
In Canto II of the Rasikapriya, Keshav Das’s classic text on the literary aesthetics of love, the author deals with heroes, whom he divides into four categories: anukul (agreeable), dakshin (dexterous), shatha (deceitful), and drishta (brazen). Our painting illustrates the ‘open’ agreeable hero, in which the heroine’s companion tells her how pure, innocent, and good she is, so ‘Tell me how did you win over Krishna who is so crafty?’
In the veranda of a pavilion the heroine is seated discussing her lover with her friend as the nayaka (Krishna himself in princely garb) who has clearly just left their company listens outside in a domed vestibule. He stands undecided, twisting the ends of his dupatta: his legs suggest he is leaving, but his body and head are twisted round the better to listen, illustrating his ‘craftiness.’ As in nearly all Bundi paintings of the 17th century, the artist goes to considerable effort to suggest three-dimensionality in the architecture, to give the characters defined spaces to occupy. The space between them is cunningly filled with diagonals leading the eye up to the trees in the garden and the rocketing blossoms defined against a deep blue sky. It is, however, the juxtaposition of colors that is so entrancing. Greens, including a lovely jade green, occupy the center of the painting, with highlights in hot orange and red on the ‘passionate’ female side and cooler shades of blue and saffron on the ‘crafty’ side, all offset by whites.
J.P. Losty, December 2019
