Court lady singing and playing the vina (recto)
1760
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1760
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Court lady singing and playing the vina (recto) is a 1760 unspecified by Muhammad Rizavi Hindi, a Mughal Painting work, depicting Lucknow, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in a gold-trimmed robe sits cross-legged, singing while she plucks a gourd-shaped vina. The painting comes from Lucknow in the 1700s, when local artists blended Mughal precision with softer, livelier colors. Look at the tiny white dots on her veil—they’re not embroidery, but light catching the sheer fabric. To see more of this delicate style, look up 18th century Indian art.
Her mouth open slightly in song, the woman’s hennaed fingers strum a three-string vina, an Indian musical instrument with a resonator made from a gourd. Music was an essential component of courtly entertainment, along with the drinking of wine and the appreciation of poetry, paintings, and jewels.
When the mouth is open, and teeth and tongue are showing, she is singing.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Muhammad Rizavi Hindi (b. 1700) was an Indian artist.
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