Sambara
1760
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1760
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Sambara is a 1760 paint by Unknown, a Rococo painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a demon king in a dark robe against a plain background. He holds a baby over a bowl of water. His face looks worried. The story comes from the Bhagavata Purana, a Hindu text. The demon king, Shambara, tried to kill the baby because of a prophecy. The baby was Krishna’s son, Pradyumna. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more art like this.
The painting, rendered in opaque watercolor and gold on paper, illustrates a scene from a Bhagavata Purana series created around 1760. It depicts the demon king Shambara, with mottled grey skin, boar tusks, and an ape’s tail, seated on a dark blue throne, attended by two demon courtiers in orange-red and greenish-black hues. To the right, two fishermen present a fish that had swallowed Krishna’s infant son, Pradyumna, within a pavilion, with a tree visible beside them.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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