2001.338: Krishna and Balarama Seated Beneath an Awning (painting, recto), from a Bhagavata Purana series

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2001.338

Title

Krishna and Balarama Seated Beneath an Awning (painting, recto), from a Bhagavata Purana series

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript folio

Date

c. 1820

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India, Northern India, Pahari Region

Culture

Indian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/165368

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Ink, opaque watercolor, gold and graphite on paper

Dimensions

21.3 x 28.6 cm (8 3/8 x 11 1/4 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: Language: Braj
  Script: Devanagari
  “Krishna”, “Balarama”

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of John Kenneth Galbraith

Accession Year

2001

Object Number

2001.338

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The painting depicts the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna seated on an enclosed outdoor terrace under an awning. He faces his elder half-brother, Balarama, identified by the caption above his head. Both are crowned and rest against large fabric bolsters. On either side of the awning is a male attendant carrying a fly-whisk made of peacock feathers. This folio most likely belonged to a Bhagavata Purana series produced in the Pahari region of Northern India. Other folios from the same Bhagavata Purana series in the Harvard Art Museum’s collection are objects 2001.335, 2001.336, 2001.337. Rajput, Pahari.

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