Krishna killing the crane demon Bakasura. Preparatory drawing for Bhagavata Purana series

This is a drawing of great originality, depicting the adolescent Krishna, the most beloved of all the avatars of Vishnu, slaying the crane-demon Bakasura. It belongs to a remarkable school of court painting active at Guler, a small hill-state in Himachal Pradesh, north-western India, that was dominated by a single family of artists for almost the entire 18th century. The family records begin with Pandit Seu in the first decades of the century, followed by his two sons Manaku and his younger brother Nainsukh, both of whom became famed in their time. Their sons continued the tradition, working closely in the styles of their fathers. This drawing, assigned to around 1780-90, belongs to the Manaku-style and may provisionally be assigned to direct descendants of the master, probably the second generation of painters who continued to be employed in the Guler court atelier.

It is a superb drawing, full of drama and verve. The characterization of the youthful Krishna as an overtly overweight boy springing into action is startlingly fresh, as is the awe-struck wonder of the herdsmen and cows, treated with equal empathy. Similarly, the drama of the terror-struck crane, captured at the moment of death as his jaws are ripped apart by Krishna, evokes the triumph of good over evil that lies at the core of the Bhagavata Purana.