This Mewari painting, in an unusual oval format, has been attributed to Chokha, a gifted court artist and son of the master painter Baghta. In the early nineteenth century, Chokha produced a series of dramatic night scenes in which protagonists were highlighted against sober yet richly detailed backgrounds. In this atmospheric scene, a nobleman climbs a rope that presumably has been lowered from a rooftop pavilion to facilitate a tryst with his mistress. Within the palace, the lady wearing a diaphanous gown lies upon a low bed and is flanked by attendants. The quiet of the night is conveyed by the sleeping guards, cows, monkeys, and darkened city in the far distance.

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