Khadgaroma, Son of Ravana
1720
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1720
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Khadgaroma, Son of Ravana is a 1720 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Andhra Pradesh, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A demon with spiky hair stands against a plain background, holding a curved sword. His body is covered in tiny blades instead of skin. This painting comes from an old storybook in southern India. The words at the bottom name the demon in Telugu, but someone pasted part of the page upside down—maybe they couldn’t read it. A French translation sits at the top, hinting at who once owned it. Look up more paintings from Andhra Pradesh to see how artists there showed demons and gods.
Blades fan around the figure of this demon, illustrating the meaning of his name: he whose “body hair is swords.” To further emphasize his favorite weapon, he clutches a broad curving sword in his right hand. The inscription at the bottom identifies him by name in the local language of Telugu, but a section has been pasted upside down, indicating that the owner of this page did not read the script. The inscription has been translated into French at the top. Territories in southern India were under French colonial control from 1692 to 1761.
The silver appliqué, which was likely mixed with the yellow pigment gamboge, imitates gold.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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