On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Maharaja Pratap Singh
Attributed to Sahib Ram
Not on view
These twin portrait studies of the third maharaja of Jaipur, Pratap Singh (r. 1778–1803), are executed in finely controlled line brushwork. The jewelry is lightly sketched in, and care was taken to define the subject’s almond-shaped eyes and eyebrows, which follow classical conventions. The drawing—attributed to the head of the Jaipur workshop, Sahib Ram—served as a preparatory study for either murals or panel paintings for the palace at Jaipur. Pratap Singh was partial to dressing up as Krishna to enact the devotional rasalila circle dance with the women of his court, who were enlisted to perform as the gopis (cowherds). The peacock feather turban ornament (sarpech) that he wears in the study nearby suggests the drawing was intended for a mural depicting Krishna’s circle dance with the gopis, since peacock feathers were traditionally identified with Krishna
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