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,…
Bocio, meaning "empowered cadaver," are power objects (bo) that represent deceased human beings (cio) though the figure may appear to be alive. A bocio is not a spirit, but a kind of decoy meant to trick death by substituting for a real person.…
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…
Having defeated Ravana, rescued Sita, and returned to his kingdom, Rama here takes center stage at his coronation in Ayodhya. Holding his characteristic bow and arrow, clothed in gold, his crowned head ringed by a shining halo, he sits on a throne in…
In the Cross River Region of Nigeria, the rivalry between masking associations gave artists incentives to generate new art forms and styles. Each association lavished great expense on masquerade paraphernalia in a bid to display the most impressive…