"Rama and Sita Enthroned," Folio from a dispersed Vishnu Avatara (The Incarnations of Vishnu)

Rama, seventh incarnation of Vishnu and personification of righteousness and virtue, is
seated with Sita his wife on a golden throne (gadi) in a palace throne­room. He is attended by
his three brothers: Lakshmana holding a fly­whisk (chauri), Bharata holding a sheathed sword,
and Shatrughna holding a gold box. The monkey chief Hanuman, who had assisted Rama in
killing the demon Ravana and recovering Sita, is standing before the divine couple in an attitude
of reverence (namaskara mudra).
In composition, this painting is even closer to Mughal scenes of formal court receptions
(durbars) than is catalogue no. 20. The arrangements of the textiles and the architectural
elements are particularly evocative of a Mughal source. Yet in a highly original transmutation,
Rama has become a Mughal lord , a Universal Monarch; and Hanuman has become his prime
minister, or diwan. This painting represents a high water mark of Mughal influence on the
Bikaner school in the mid­seventeenth century.
This picture and catalogue no. 23 are from the same important, yet now dispersed
Series illustrating the various avataras, or earthly incarnations, of the great god Vishnu.

Inscription: Inscribed on the front in red and black ink in the yellow text panel with three lines of Sanskrit written in devanagari script: “The Illustrious One, appearing as a blue cloud,
lotus-eyed, bearing a bow and arrow, like a bolt of lightning, [his] body decorated with radiant ornaments, wife, Janaki on his left side, before [him] Hanuma¯n with cupped hands, displayed behind are his brothers, like a lion, whose lineage has subdued demons, he is King Ra¯ghava, the Great Soul.” Inscribed on the reverse in red and black ink with five lines of Braj Bhasha written in devanagari script describing the scene

none given

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Divine Pleasures: Painting from India's Rajput Courts—The Kronos Collections," June 13–September 11, 2016.

New York,. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Sita and Rama: The Ramayana in Indian Painting," August 3, 2019–March 7, 2021.