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King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala Sit Alone to Discuss Her Dreams, Folio 24 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra

Unknown

1488

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance Religious

Dominant colour

King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala Sit Alone to Discuss Her Dreams, Folio 24 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra is a 1488 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1488 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a king and queen sitting on a golden throne under a red canopy, surrounded by tiny figures and patterns in gold and blue. This painting comes from a Jain holy book. The queen had dreams that predicted her son would become a great spiritual leader. The artist used real gold and crushed lapis lazuli, a bright blue stone, to make the colors glow. Over time, the green paint on the queen’s dress ate through the paper—you can still see the holes. Look up more paintings from western india, gujarat, last quarter of the 15th century to see how they tell stories like this.

The story of this work

Overview

King Siddhartha is depicted on this page with his wife, Trishala, who had a series of auspicious dreams associated with her pregnancy. Her child Mahavira would grow up to become the historical founder of the Jain religion in the 500s BC. The royal couple is resplendently enthroned and bedecked in jewelry. Queen Trishala’s bodice was painted with a green pigment made from copper and vinegar; its high acid content caused the paper itself to disintegrate. The lavish use of gold and lapis lazuli indicates that it was a costly production.

Read the full account in the museum source.