Krishna sporting with the gopis in the Jumna River, from a Bhagavata Purana
1532
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1532
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Krishna sporting with the gopis in the Jumna River, from a Bhagavata Purana is a 1532 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a river full of women splashing and laughing, their arms wrapped around a blue-skinned god. The water swirls in tight circles around them, like a whirlpool. Above, tiny angels scatter flowers and bang a drum. The faces are all in profile—no one looks straight at you. This was a rule in northern India at the time, a way to keep the style local instead of copying Persian art. The bright colors and playful energy make the scene feel alive. To see more like this, look up paintings from northern India.
Abstract concentric circles depict water churned up by the gopis , or cowherd women, who are swimming and playing with joy and abandon. In their midst, the blue-skinned Krishna reaches for a gopi’s breast. Their love play is celebrated by celestial beings in the sky who offer flower garlands and beat on a drum. Every figure’s face is shown in profile—a hallmark of Indian painting of the early 1500s perpetuated by artists wishing to emphasize Indian rather than Persian depictions of the human form.
This page is from one of the earliest surviving illustrated Hindu manuscripts on the life of Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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