Nanda Touches Krishna's Head after the Slaying of Putana: Page from a Bhagavata Purana Manuscript
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This painting is one of a series illustrating the Tenth Book of the Bhagavata Purana, which is devoted to celebrating the exploits of the young Krishna. Here, the infant Krishna is praised by his adoptive father Nanda for having just slain the demoness (dakini) Putana by draining life from her breasts. The assembled family rejoices at this, one of the first of many miraculous feats of the child-god. This work embodies much that characterizes the Caurapancasika-group style: flat intense color, profile heads with wondrous pronounced eyes, cloud-edged skyline, and elaborate Sultanate architecture, turreted and crenellated, and festooned with colorful textile awnings.
Artwork Details
- Title: Nanda Touches Krishna's Head after the Slaying of Putana: Page from a Bhagavata Purana Manuscript
- Artist: Masters of the Palam Bhagavata Purana
- Date: ca. 1540
- Culture: North India (Delhi-Agra region)
- Medium: Opaque watercolor and ink on paper
- Dimensions: Overall: 6 15/16 x 9 3/8 in. (17.7 x 23.8 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by Museum Rietberg Zürich, Gift of Fritz and Monica von Schulthess
- Rights and Reproduction: Museum Rietberg Zürich, Gift of Fritz and Monica von Schulthess
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art