Dhritarashtra Attacks the Statue of Bhima, Folio from a Razmnama (Book of Wars)

ca. 1616–17

Not on view

Commissioned by the emperor Akbar in 1582 the Razmnama is a Persian translation of the Mahabharata, the Indian epic whose central narrative relates the rivalry and war between the Pandava family and their Kaurava cousins. This folio comes from an incomplete and widely dispersed Razmnama series made for the leading Mughal courtier and Commander-in-chief of the Mughal armies, Abd ur-Rahim Khan-i Khanan (1556–1626) who was also a poet, scholar and patron of art and literature. The painting illustrates an episode when the blind king Dhritarashtra has met the Pandavas again. Overcome by grief for his slain sons he angrily sets upon the warrior prince Bhima. But the god Krishna, and Pandava ally, pulls Bhima aside and miraculously substitutes an iron statue in his image. The old blind king crushes the iron Bhima with his bare hands before his anger finally passes

Artwork Details

Title: Dhritarashtra Attacks the Statue of Bhima, Folio from a Razmnama (Book of Wars)
Date: ca. 1616–17
Geography: Country of Origin India
Medium: Opaque color and gold on paper
Dimensions: Image: 15 1/4 × 9 7/16 in. (38.8 × 24 cm)
Frame: 19 × 13 1/2 × 5/8 in. (48.3 × 34.3 × 1.6 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions, Harris Brisbane Dick, and 2020 Benefit Funds; Howard S. and Nancy Marks, Lila Acheson Wallace, and Friends of Islamic Art Gifts; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; and funds from various donors, 2022
Object Number: 2022.176
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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