Manmatha or Kama, the God of Love
1820
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1820
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Manmatha or Kama, the God of Love is a 1820 paint by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a blue-skinned man riding an elephant made of women. The man holds a flaming torch and wears a crown with jewels. The women, dressed in bright red, green, and purple clothes, bend their backs to form the elephant’s body, their arms and legs visible like legs and tusks. The title says this is the god of love, Kama, on an elephant. The women’s faces show calm expressions despite the strange shape. Look up Romanticism next to see how this fits into that art movement.
A gouache and watercolour painting from around 1820 depicts the Hindu god of love, Manmatha or Kama, riding an elephant formed by nine women, created in Tiruchirappalli, South India, as part of a series of 100 drawings of Hindu deities.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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