"The Heroine Shows Her Anger," Illustrated folio from a dispersed Rasikapriya (Lovers’ Breviary) of Keshav Das

When the Bikaner rulers. feudatories of the imperial Mughals in the 16th ­ 19th centuries,
established their court painting atelier at Bikaner, they established it for the most part along
Mughal lines. We know that imperial painting during the reign of the great Akbar (1556­1605)
was often an “assembly line” production. involving the joint work of two or more artists: a senior
painter devising the overall composition and painting some of its more important sections, with
a junior painter completing the rest of the master design. In addition, a third painter would often
add some specialized touches (portraits of actual people, for example). This Mughal method of
production was used to make this very fine Bikaner work of art as well. Indeed it would
appear that this “assembly line” mode of production lasted longer at Bikaner than it did at the
Mughal court, particularly in the making of large and important Bikaner series, such as the
Rasikapriya series to which the present painting once belonged.
According to an inscription this painting is the joint work of the great artist Ruknuddin
(see catalogue nos. 20 and 22) and his somewhat less talented son or brother, both of whom
had the same name, Isa. Ruknuddin would have devised the overall composition and painted
some of its more important sections, while Isa would have completed the rest of the picture.
According to Steven Kossak, Ruknuddin painted .........
Pace Naval Krishna, the most experienced student of the Bikaner atelier, at the time of
Ruknuddin the Bikaner court workshop was divided into various studios, or mandis, under the
direction of a great master. This master artist would have supervised his less gifted pupils, all of
whom attempted to mimic the master’s style. (1) Different sections of a large series were
assigned to different masters. Therefore, following Naval Krishna, one can say the present
work would have been assigned to Ruknuddin, supervising his pupil Isa. Ruknuddin’s painting
would have been only one component, albeit a delightful one, in the much larger section of a
very large series.

(1) Naval Krishna, “Bikaneri Miniature Painting Workshops of Ruknuddin Ibrahim and
Nathu”, Lalit Kala, No. 21, pp. 23­27 and Naval Krishna, ”Painting and Painters in Bikaner:
Notes on an Inventory Register of the 17th Century” in B.N. Goswamy, ed., Indian Painting:
Essays in Honour of Karl J. Khandalavala (New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1995), pp. 254­80.

Inscription: Inscribed on the reverse in black ink in Rajasthani written in devanagari script: “Volume 3, Rasikapriya of Ruknuddin / Sam[vat] 1743 [a.d. 1686], son Isa ( po isa) page 2 volume 3
(am 2 jam 3)”; and in a bolder hand: “The anger sentiment of Radha,” followed by a line of text (for an English translation, see Bahadur 1972, p. 226). Also written in black ink at the
extreme right: “pra. 14” (chapter 14)

Swiss coll. 1983

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Divine Pleasures: Painting from India's Rajput Courts—The Kronos Collections," June 13–September 11, 2016.