Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Rawat Gokul Das II Hunting Tigers
Attributed to Bagta
Not on view
A tour de force of landscape imagery—fanciful and whimsical as well as compelling—this remarkable painting shows the ruler of Devgarh, Rawat Gokul Das II (r. 1786–1821). He holds a bow and arrow and is poised as if seated for a studio portrait, detached from the sumptuous landscape that surrounds him. His weapons are an affectation; by this time wild animals were hunted with matchlock guns, like that depicted at his feet, which closely resemble the examples exhibited nearby. The painting has been attributed to Bagta, an Udaipur-trained artist who followed patronage to Devgarh, where he settled and enjoyed the support of Rawat Gokul Das II. Bagta’s style was continued at the Devgarh court by his son Chokha, a noted artist in his own right.
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