Dhruva Narayana

This lithograph depicts Lord Vishnu, adorned in flower garlands and gold jewelry, standing in front of a young devotee Dhruva, who has been praying and meditating upon the Lord’s name in the forest since he was a child. Vishnu reveals himself to his devotee as a radiant vision. Vishnu displays in his four hands the discus, mace, conch, and lotus denoting his martial and yet compassionate nature. The forested landscape with waterfall and mountains beyond echoes the studio backdrops employed by commercial photographers of the period. Ravi Varma’s oil paintings were drawn on the lithographic stone principally by Fritz Schleicher and P. Gerhardt. Schleicher had purchased the press, and the rights to reproduce many of Ravi Varma’s paintings in 1903.