Details
- Title : Aniruddha is abducted by Usa's handmaid
- Year : ca. 1800
- Classification : Paintings
- Medium : Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
- Dimension : 14 13/16 x 21 21/32 in. (37.6 x 55 cm)
- Accession No : 1990.172
- Country/ Geo-location : NEPAL
- Collection : San Diego Museum of Art
- Credit Line : Edwin Binney 3rd Collection
- Provenance : (a) Maggs Bros. Ltd., London, England ( 1964 - August 29, 1964 ) (b) Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California ( August 29, 1964 - August 27, 1990 ) (c) San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California ( August 27, 1990 - )
- Label Copy : Label Copy: Power & Desire, 04/00 A demon-princess has fallen in love with a man she saw in her dreams. Not only does her magic companion know who the man is, she can bring him to her mistress. The maid flies to the palace, where the unsuspecting prince – Krishna’s grandson – is sleeping in the pale green chamber at center. Lifting the bed, prince and all, she carries him home to her delighted lady. We see this bold woman a second time, on the roof of the palace at right, outlined against the starry sky. Fortunately, when the prince wakes in his new surroundings, he falls in love with his captor. The respective fathers declare war, but when all that is sorted out, the couple have a long, happy life together. This image is from a large Nepali Bhagavata Purana set that illustrates Krishna’s life in great detail. Many of the buildings can be identified with palaces and temples still standing in Kathmandu. September 2005 Devotional Arts of Nepal An ambitious project produced in Nepal, this unusually large-format series of portfolio pages, when complete, included over one hundred pages. The paintings depict scenes from Book Ten of the Bhagavata Purana, a sacred text devoted to the god Vishnu with special emphasis on the his human incarnation as Krishna. Worhsip of Vishnu, and particularly his form as Krishna, was prominent in Nepal, along with Buddhism and the worship of Shiva and the goddess. These paintings indicate that their makers looked to Rajput traditions of India for inspiration, in aspects including the portfolio format and the use of bright color; but the Indian elements were adapted in idiosyncratic ways. These pictures present grand architectural tableaus, using local Nepali palace and temple forms, in which diminutive figures act in continuous narration. (The stories illustrated in these paintings are narrated in the kiosk program.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After describing Krishna’s various marriages, the tenth book discusses Krishna’s progeny and their exploits, including those of his grandson Aniruddha. A princess named Usha dreams of a young man with whom she falls in love. Waking to find him gone, Usha asks her attendant Chitralekha to sketch portraits of gods and other classes of beings so that she might recognize him. Arriving at the descendants of Krishna, Usha shyly points to Aniruddha. Chitralekha then flies to Dwarka to abduct the sleeping Aniruddha and bring him back to Usha’s palace. With its gleaming domes, multilevel buildings, and waterfront location, this illustration captures the splendor of Dwarka on a starry night. Near the left gate, we see Krishna seated inside an elaborate palace with a female companion. At the center of the city, Chitralekha lifts up the bed of the sleeping Aniruddha. She is depicted a second time, standing on the roof to the right of Aniruddha’s palace, about to fly to Usha’s palace with the sleeping prince.
- Exhibition History : (a) Rajput Miniatures from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, The Portland Art Association, 9/24/1968 - 12/14/1969 (b) Power & Desire: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art,, San Diego Museum of Art, 4/29/2000 - 10/5/2003 (c) Epic Tales from India: Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art, The San Diego Museum of Art, 11/19/2016 - 6/12/2018