Krishna and Balarama thumbnail 1
Krishna and Balarama thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Krishna and Balarama

Painting
ca. 1760 - ca. 1765 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This painting is one of a series of illustrations to the Bhagavata Purana, a Sanskrit text whose tenth book deals with the life of the god Krishna. Krishna, blue-skinned, is shown with his brother Balarama in the centre. At the end of their tuition their guru Sandipani, shown seated with his wife, asked as his teaching-price the return of his drowned son. Krishna and Balarama drove their chariot to the coast, slew the marine demon who had killed the boy, then went to Yama, the god of death, who returned the child to them.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleKrishna and Balarama (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque water-colour on paper
Brief description
Painting, Bhagavata Purana, Krishna and Balarama, restoration of the child, opaque watercolour on paper, Guler style at Basohli, ca. 1760-1765
Physical description
Painting, in opaque water-colour on paper, Krishna and Balarama in a courtyard with the child of their spiritual preceptor, returning him to his parents. Background brownish-yellow. From a 'fifth' Bhagavata Purana series.
Dimensions
  • Height: 238mm
  • Width: 343mm
  • With border height: 300mm
  • With border width: 410mm
Red border with narrow black margin and white rules. Numbered 147.
Content description
Krishna and Balarama in a courtyard with the child of their spiritual preceptor, returning him to his parents.
Styles
Gallery label
THE CHILD RESTORED TO HIS PARENTS FROM THE DEAD Opaque water-colour and gold on paper Basohli, Punjab Hills c. 1760-65 IS.39-1960 This painting, like the adjacent two, is one of a series of illustrations to the Bhagavata Purana. Krishna, blue-skinned, is shown with his brother Balarama in the centre. At the end of their tuition their guru Sandipani, shown seated with his wife, asked as his teaching-price the return of his drowned son. Krishna and Balarama drove their chariot to the coast, slew the marine demon who had killed the boy, then went to Yama, the god of death, who returned the child to them.(06/2008)
Production
Guler style at Basohli
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceBhagavata Purana
Summary
This painting is one of a series of illustrations to the Bhagavata Purana, a Sanskrit text whose tenth book deals with the life of the god Krishna. Krishna, blue-skinned, is shown with his brother Balarama in the centre. At the end of their tuition their guru Sandipani, shown seated with his wife, asked as his teaching-price the return of his drowned son. Krishna and Balarama drove their chariot to the coast, slew the marine demon who had killed the boy, then went to Yama, the god of death, who returned the child to them.
Bibliographic reference
Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills : a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting / by W. G. Archer ; foreword by Sherman E. Lee. London :Delhi: Sotheby Parke Bernet ;Oxford University Press, 1973 Number: 0856670022 p. 49, cat. no. 22 vii
Collection
Accession number
IS.39-1960

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Record createdJuly 21, 2000
Record URL
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