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Bhima’s consultation with the astrologer, from a Nala-Damayanti

Unknown

1795

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Romanticism 18th Century Allegory

Dominant colour

Bhima’s consultation with the astrologer, from a Nala-Damayanti is a 1795 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1795 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a king sitting under a red canopy while astrologers read the stars. Messengers rush to share good news, and musicians start to play. This painting comes from a long series that tells the love story of Damayanti and Nala. The story was already 700 years old when this was made, yet the artist filled it with bright colors and lively details, as if it happened yesterday. To see more paintings like this, look up northern India, Pahari kingdoms.

The story of this work

Overview

In the central pavilion, King Bhima, father of the beautiful Damayanti, receives favorable signs from his astrologers for the marriage of his daughter to her beloved, Nala. In the upper left corner, King Bhima tells the good news to his daughter, while messengers inform Nala in the upper right. Musicians and dancers already begin to celebrate. This lyrical series depicts scenes from the extended romantic poem of the 1100s, based on an episode from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata .