1995.121: Vasanta Raga (painting, recto), from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies) Series

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1995.121

Title

Vasanta Raga (painting, recto), from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies) Series

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript folio

Date

c. 1670 - 1680

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India, Rajasthan, Sirohi

Culture

Indian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/310444

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Opaque watercolor on paper

Dimensions

22 x 16 cm (8 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
framed: 48.58 x 38.42 x 2.22 cm (19 1/8 x 15 1/8 x 7/8 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

1995.121

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The season of “Vasanta” or spring is evoked in several elements in this painting of the Vasanta Raga. Here, the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna alongside gopis (cowgirls) celebrates Holi, the festival of colors. The scene unfolds outdoors, underneath an awning framed by flowering trees. Krishna playfully holds a young maiden as another maiden prepares a syringe to shoot colored water onto the pair. A third maiden plays a percussion instrument to add to the merriment. Holi is celebrated annually on the first full moon day of the month in March and is considered to mark the transition from wintertime to spring, an appropriate subject for a painting of Vasanta Raga.

This painting is a pictorial metaphor for a raga, a musical phrase that is used as the basis for improvisation, belonging to a Ragamala or “Garland of melodies” series. The orange borders and the red and green color fields in the architectural frame of the painting link it to the Ragamala or "Garland of Ragas" series attributed to the Sirohi court. The overall composition reflects the artists’ knowledge of the late seventeenth-century Malwa court styles. Another folio from the same series is 1960.155. Rajput, Rajasthani, Sirohi School.

Exhibition History

• The Music Room, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/1984 - 11/11/1984
• Rajasthani Miniatures: The Welch Collection at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, The Drawing Center, New York, 04/16/1997 - 06/07/1997

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