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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.66
Title
Battle Scene (painting, recto), folio fragment from a Bhagavata Purana series
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: The 'Dispersed' Bhagavata Purana Series; also known as the 'Palam' Bhagavata Purana or 'Sa Mitharam - Sa Nana' Bhagavata Purana.
Classification
Manuscripts
Work Type
manuscript folio
Date
c.1540
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-Agra region
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/1428

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions
17.9 x 24 cm (7 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift in gratitude to John Coolidge, Gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr., Anonymous Fund in memory of Henry Berg, Louise Haskell Daly, Alpheus Hyatt, Richard Norton Memorial Funds and through the generosity of Albert H. Gordon and Emily Rauh Pulitzer; formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr.
Accession Year
1995
Object Number
1995.66
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This painting depicts figures marching into battle on chariots and horse-backs, drawing their weapons towards their enemy. This painting is part of a four-folio scene, which, combined, would create a large battle painting. It is possible that this folio, along with the other three, was made sometime after the Dispersed Bhagavata Purana series was completed to accompany the series. There is no text on the reverse of this folio.

This painting belongs to the 'Dispersed' Bhagavata Purana series, produced in the early 16th century, possibly in Mathura. The series, possibly consisting of 360 such folios, is based on the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, which describes the story of Krishna, particularly his childhood and youth. This series was one of South Asia's earliest illustrated Bhagavata Purana manuscripts. Other folios from the same Bhagavata Purana series in the Harvard Art Museum’s collection are objects 1963.145, 1974.124, 1974.125, 1974.126, 1974.127, 1992.283, 1995.67, 1995.68. Caurapancasika-group style.

Exhibition History

  • Indian Harvest: Part 1, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/30/1995 - 01/21/1996
  • A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions of Islamic and Later Indian Art, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 06/08/2000 - 09/03/2000
  • Re-View: Arts of India & the Islamic Lands, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/26/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • Re-View: S231 (Islamic rotation: 6) I was not Waving but Drowning, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 12/03/2010 - 04/02/2011

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu