Man-Har Krishna (Charming Krishna)
Narottam Narayan Sharma Indian
Not on view
The blue-skinned boy Krishna stands gazing lovingly at the viewer, affording the viewer a pure experience of seeing the divine (darshan). A green parrot, willingly held by Krishna, pecks at his chin, expressing the love of the divine offered by a devotee (bhakta). The child-god is bejeweled in the Rajasthani-taste of the day, wears a peacock feather plume in his hair, and sports a flute nonchalantly tucked into his dhoti, foretelling his teenage exploits with the cow-maids (gopis), whom he charms from their homes (and husbands) at night with its playing. The artist Narottam Narayan Sharma was a renowned Jodhpur painter of devotional images of Krishna.