Krishna Venugopala and Radha in a wooded glade (Shri Shri Radha Krishna)

In this tender vision of Krishna and Radha, we see the lovers standing in a woodland glade, each poised on a lotus cushion. Krishna plays his flute while gazing at Radha, who stands enchanted by the beauty of the moment. Heavily bejeweled, their garments glow against the deep green shades of the surrounding woods. As in many of the lithographs on view on this gallery, details tie the mythological scene to contemporaneous regional religious practices. Both figures’ hands are adorned with alta, a traditional red dye favored in West Bengal for beautification and auspiciousness; it is especially associated with weddings. The love of Radha and Krishna, first celebrated in the famed twelfth-century devotional poem by Jayadeva, the Gita Govinda, serves as a vivid metaphor for Hindu devotionalism (bhakti).