Shri Brijnathji and Maharao Durjan Sal hunting
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.Durjan Sal (r. 1723–56), the likely patron of this work, enters a forested rocky landscape at upper right, where he closes in for the kill of a rhinoceros. Other hunting parties charge from the left along two heavily grassed ravines separated by rocky outcrops. Wild buffalo gather around a mountain pond, and a pride of tigers and two lions has been entrapped, to be slain with arrows. Corps of beaters and huntsmen (shikaris) pound kettle drums (naqqara) and sound long trumpets (shehnais) to drive the prey into the trap. The principal participants are named by inscriptions within the painting, most of which are still legible. These include members of Durjan Sal’s family as well as some of his regal ancestors, underscoring the imagined nature of the painting. The hunt is led by the family tutelary deity Shri Brijnathji, giving supremacy to Lord Krishna as the true ruler of the Kota kingdom.
Artwork Details
- Title: Shri Brijnathji and Maharao Durjan Sal hunting
- Date: ca. 1730–40
- Culture: India, Rajasthan, Kota
- Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton cloth
- Dimensions: Image: 40 5/16 × 75 5/16 in. (102.4 × 191.3 cm)
Framed: 46 1/4 × 81 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (117.5 × 206.4 × 3.2 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: The Howard Hodgkin Collection, on loan from the Howard Hodgkin Indian Collection Trust
- Object Number: L.2022.30.21
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art