The Rajasthani text at the top of this painting directs us to begin at the bottom right, where Guha, chief of the Nishadas, a forest tribe, reports his earlier encounter with Rama to Bharata, outside of his royal tent. The other scenes depict Guha’s…
It could be said that the Ramayana begins with a failure:
Rama should be king, but his rightful claim to the throne is denied.
Here king Dasharatha, having joyously resolved on the succession of his eldest son Rama, has sent the charioteer Sumantra…
After Ravana kidnaps Sita, Rama journeys to rescue his wife. On the way, he meets Hanuman, who becomes his faithful servant. In this scene, Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman rest in the forest on a leaf mat in a moment of quiet devotion that contrasts…
This folio tells the story from the Adi Parva, the first book of the Mahabharata, of the eagle Garuda, who became the vahana (animal mount) for the god Vishnu. Garuda's mother Vinata and her co-wife Kadru had engaged in a wager that Vinata lost,…
This folio tells the story from the Adi Parva, the first book of the Mahabharata, of the eagle Garuda, who became the vahana (animal mount) for the god Vishnu. Garuda's mother Vinata and her co-wife Kadru had engaged in a wager that Vinata lost,…
This embroidered cloth is sometimes called "Kasai velvet" after the region of the Democratic Republic of Congo from which they originate and the cut-pile technique of their manufacture. The underlying raffia structure is woven by men on upright looms…
Albrecht Durer was the greatest and most innovative printmaker of the Renaissance. A native of Nuremberg, Germany, he had established an international reputation by the beginning of the 16th Century with the publication of three woodcut series,…
Albrecht Durer was the greatest and most innovative printmaker of the Renaissance. A native of Nuremberg, Germany, he had established an international reputation by the beginning of the sixteenth century with the publication of the woodcut series,…