Mat: 10 1/2 x 8 3/16 in. (26.7 x 20.8 cm)]]> Mat: 10 1/2 x 8 3/16 in. (26.7 x 20.8 cm)]]> ]]>
The portrait and its oval border were engraved on one copper plate, while the decorative surround was printed from another. The objects in each corner of the frame represent Coornhert's talents and accomplishments as an engraver and lover of painting, as a musician, as a swordsman, and as a humanist scholar. The motto in Dutch at the top center, "Weet, of rust" (Know, or be still) was Coornhert's own. The Latin inscription at the bottom praises Coornhert's love of truth and freendom as expressed in his writings.]]> Framed: 11 1/4 x 14 1/2 in. (28.6 x 36.8 cm)
Image (visible): 7 3/4 x 11 in. (19.7 x 27.9 cm)]]> Framed: 11 1/4 x 14 1/2 in. (28.6 x 36.8 cm)
Image (visible): 7 3/4 x 11 1/8 in. (19.7 x 28.3 cm)]]> In reaction to Rama’s untimely exile, the painting illustrates multiple forms fraternal piety: Lakshmana’s steadfast devotion and Bharata’s pious grief. One joins Rama in his forest trial; the other must endure his absence, reluctantly ruling a kingdom bereft of its true king.]]> 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 to summon him. As is typical of Mewari style, the painting tells a sequential narrative, with individual scenes separated by architectural motifs and blocks of color. It centers on Rama’s brief chariot journey, across a sparse, stylized field, from his private but majestic home (right) to Dasharatha’s palace (left), its lofty height indicated by a short set of stairs. In the assembly, Rama, seated reverently below three brahmin advisors and the enthroned king himself, learns of his imminent coronation.
The coronation, however, will soon be interrupted by the plotting of Kaikeyi, one of Dasharatha’s three wives. Invoking two royal boons promised to her years earlier, she demands that the king banish Rama to a life of asceticism in the forest, and consecrate her son, Bharata, in his place. Bound by oath, Dasharatha complies, before dying of grief over this perversion of natural succession.]]>