Not currently on display at the V&A

Painting

ca. 1590 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Mughal Empire (made)

The Mughal emperor Akbar had the main Sanskrit texts translated into Persian, the language of the court and of the elite of the empire. This page is from a translation of the Harivamsa, the life of Krishna appended to the Mahabharata, and was done in about 1590. In this episode Krishna kills the evil king of Mathura, Kansa, first dragging him by the hair from his throne.


Object details

Categories
Paintings
Calligraphy
Object type
Painting
Materials and techniques
Painted in ink, gold and opaque watercolour on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Paint
Paper
Painted
Brief description
Painting, calligraphy, opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590
Physical description
Painting, in ink, gold and opaque watercolour on paper, calligraphy panel.
Dimensions
  • Page height: 43.8cm
  • Page width: 32.4cm
  • Painting height: 32.3cm
  • Painting width: 20.3cm
Content description
Calligraphy panel.
Styles
Mughal Court
Mughal
Credit line
Bequeathed by the Hon. Dame Ada Macnaghten
Object history
Bequeathed by the Hon. Dame Ada Macnaghten
Historical context
Akbar had the major Sanskrit texts of the Hindu traditino translated into Persian and these were then illustrated by the court artists. The Harivamsa is an epic devoted to Krishna and appended to the Mahabharata
Production
the borders were added later, probably in Lucknow in the 18th century
Subject depicted
Calligraphy
Summary
The Mughal emperor Akbar had the main Sanskrit texts translated into Persian, the language of the court and of the elite of the empire. This page is from a translation of the Harivamsa, the life of Krishna appended to the Mahabharata, and was done in about 1590. In this episode Krishna kills the evil king of Mathura, Kansa, first dragging him by the hair from his throne.
Associated object
IS.3-1970 (Verso)
Bibliographic references
  • Guy, J., and Swallow, D., (eds). ‘Arts of India: 1550-1900’. London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990. ISBN 1851770224.p.70, no.47.
  • Robert Skelton, "Mughal Paintings from Harivamsa Manuscript", V&A Museum Yearbook, no. 2, 1970.
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.3:2-1970

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Record createdSeptember 11, 2013
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1272641/painting-unknown/
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