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Battle of Ravana and Jatayu, from Chapters 50 and 51 of the Aranya Kanda (Book of the Forest) of Valmiki's Ramayana (Rama’s Journey); folio from the "Burnt" Ramayana

Unknown

1605

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Baroque History Painting Madhya Pradesh

Dominant colour

Battle of Ravana and Jatayu, from Chapters 50 and 51 of the Aranya Kanda (Book of the Forest) of Valmiki's Ramayana (Rama’s Journey); folio from the "Burnt" Ramayana is a 1605 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, depicting Madhya Pradesh, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1605 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a bright, busy fight: a giant vulture with red blood on his wings slashes at a ten-headed king in a chariot pulled by donkeys. This painting was made for a king in central India around 1605. The story comes from an old Hindu epic, but the artist added local details—like the donkeys, which the text says were the first to die. A fire later damaged the painting, so the kidnapped woman, Sita, is now just a faint shape in the corner. To see more paintings like this, look up the Rajput kingdom of Datia.

The story of this work

Overview

The vulture Jatayu, Lord of the Birds, his beak agape, loses feathers and dark red blood in his desperate fight to save Sita from her kidnapper, the ten-headed Ravana. Since this painting was damaged by fire in India decades ago, Sita is barely visible now at the bottom right corner, in Ravana’s donkey-led chariot. Her expression is pensive, as she awaits her fate. In adherence to the Ramayana text written on the back of the painting, the donkeys were the first victims in the battle that will claim Jatayu’s life.