Krishna being dressed in women’s clothes for the spring festival Holi
1790
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1790
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Krishna being dressed in women’s clothes for the spring festival Holi is a 1790 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a group of women dressing a young man in bright, flowing skirts and jewelry while others fill small pumps with colored water. This painting shows Krishna, a Hindu god, being playfully dressed as a woman for Holi, the spring festival. The scene is full of laughter and mischief—boundaries blur for one day of wild celebration. Radha, his closest friend, teases him by holding his crown just out of reach. If you like this scene, look up more works about northern India, Pahari kingdoms.
The festival of Holi, which celebrates the arrival of spring, is a time of play when transgressing boundaries is allowed as part of the reckless joy and abandon of the day. Vats of colored water and powder in the foreground are used to fill handheld pumps to shoot colors at one another. The young women of the cowherd village where Krishna grew up gather around, fill their pumps, begin to play music, and cheekily dress Krishna as one of them. Radha, his favorite, holds his crown up high as she takes it away. He indulges them, just as he indulged all his devotees by taking on a human form. This…
A few preliminary patches of color in the foreground indicate the palette intended to be applied to the entire painting.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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