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Two Women Pluck Flowers on a Terrace: Gunakali Ragini, from a Ragamala

Unknown

1650

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Baroque Mughal Painting Baroque Allegory Madhya Pradesh Malwa

Dominant colour

Two Women Pluck Flowers on a Terrace: Gunakali Ragini, from a Ragamala is a 1650 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Madhya Pradesh, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1650 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Two women sit on a terrace, plucking flowers into a white bowl. One has dark skin, the other fair. Behind them, a golden pot holds the plant, and a rumpled bed hints at sleepless nights. The painting comes from a *Ragamala*—a set of images that pair visual scenes with classical Indian music modes. Each image tells a mood, not a story. Here, the golden wine cups and betel box suggest waiting, maybe for love. To see more works like this, look up central india, madhya pradesh, malwa.

The story of this work

Overview

A woman with dark complexion and her fair-skinned companion collect flowers in a white bowl from a plant growing in a golden pot. Two huge yellow bolsters set rakishly on the bed suggest restlessness inside the chamber. A gold box for breath-freshening betel ( paan ) is on the bed, and golden wine vessels are in the two turrets and on the roof, probably to be drunk while watching for her lover to arrive.