A Lady Playing the Tanpura

India (Rajasthan, Kishangarh)

Not on view

As a nayika (archetypal heroine), this figure personifies the ideal of feminine beauty as conceptualized in Indian devotional poetry of the period. She strums a tanpura and wears elaborate jewelry and sheer textiles, clearly placing her as a member of the court. At the same time, there is the allusion that she is Radha, the divine consort of Krishna, who was important to these Kishangarh patrons.

A Lady Playing the Tanpura, Ink, opaque and transparent watercolor, and gold on paper, India (Rajasthan, Kishangarh)

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