Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a watercolor painting. It dates from 1655 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 1977.440.14
- Credit line
- Gift of Daniel J. Slott, 1977
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the interaction between the two human subjects and the vehicle, serving as the primary iconographic elements of the work.
Created in India in 1655, this ink and opaque watercolor on paper presents a mythological scene featuring a man and a woman alongside a chariot. While the specific identities of the figures and the precise narrative remain undefined due to the artist's anonymity and the generic title, the inclusion of a chariot within a mythological genre suggests a depiction of travel, procession, or a specific episode from regional lore involving divine or heroic figures. The composition centers on the interaction between the two human subjects and the vehicle, serving as the primary iconographic elements of the work.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in ink and opaque watercolor on paper, a traditional combination associated with South Asian manuscript and miniature painting practices. Its modest dimensions, approximately 6.3 by 13.5 centimeters, indicate an intimate, small-scale format suited to detailed handling. The narrow horizontal proportion suggests a frieze-like composition, consistent with the depiction of a chariot scene featuring a man and a woman.
The use of opaque watercolor alongside ink linework would have allowed for both crisp contour drawing and layered chromatic modeling, while the paper support permitted fine brushwork. No further technical, conservation, or stylistic commentary is documented in the available records.
History & Provenance
Untitled is an anonymous work executed in ink and opaque watercolor on paper circa 1655, produced in India. Its subject, a chariot carrying a man and a woman, places it within a mythological genre. It measures 6.3 cm in height and 13.5 cm in width.
The work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No record of a specific commission, accession number, or exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
This untitled painting, rendered in ink and opaque watercolor on paper, depicts a dynamic scene of two men in a horse-drawn chariot. They speed past a solitary woman, dressed in a red sari, who remains still. While the artist remains anonymous, the work's aesthetic characteristics suggest an origin in 17th-century Rajasthan, India, reflecting common artistic practices of the period.
Artist & collection
- Akrura Drives Krishna and Balarama to Mathura, from the “Isarda Bhagavata Purana”
Untitled
Tantric Manuscript "Sangrahani Sutra"
Krishna Lifts Mount Govardhan, from a Bhagavata Purana
Tantric Manuscript "Sangrahani Sutra"
Untitled
The Marriage of Pradyumna and Rukmavati, page from a Bhagavata Purana
A Narrative Scroll from Andhra Pradesh
Untitled
Untitled
Shri Raga, from a Ragamala
Untitled
