Krishna and Radha appear as the ruler Raja Balwant Singh’s devotional vision. Nainsukh has subtly created two contrasting worlds, one occupied by the deities and the other by their devotee, who stands at the threshold. Balwant Singh looks into Krishna’s eyes and in turn receives his Lord’s grace. The setting is a terrace of the raja’s court framed by a landscape; the orange canopy invites the viewer into the divine space of the gods, who sit on a gilded, cushioned throne. This work is tremendously powerful because Nainsukh omitted embellishment and instead focused on the essential details of the narrative scene.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Raja Balwant Singh’s Vision of Krishna and Radha
Artist:Attributed to Nainsukh (active ca. 1735–78)
Date:ca. 1745–50
Culture:India, Punjab Hills, kingdom of Jasrota
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions:Overall: 7 3/4 x 6 1/8 in. (19.7 x 15.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1994
Accession Number:1994.377
[ John Lawrence Fine Arts Inc. , London, until 1994, sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Indian Paintings," 1994–95.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Indian Court Painting: 16th–19th Century," March 25–July 6, 1997.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painting in the Punjab Hills," 1999–2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gods and Demons," 2000–2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Indian Court Painting," 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Pursuits at the Hindu Courts," December 17, 2002–April 6, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings in the Punjab Hills," 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Krishna: Mythology and Worship," February 9–May 9, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painting in the Punjab Hills," November 20, 2007–March 16, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Krishna: Mythology and Worship," March 1–July 28, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India, 1100–1900," September 26, 2011–January 8, 2012.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Hindu Court Painting," July 17–September 8, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Poetry and Devotion in Indian Painting: A Curatorial Legacy," June 15–December 4, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seeing the Divine: Pahari Painting of North India," December 22, 2018–July 28, 2019.
Painters in the Himalayas created a small but remarkably innovative body of miniature paintings to make the divine manifest and accessible for royal patrons.
Attributed to a first-generation master after Nainsukh (active ca. 1735–78)
ca. 1780
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