Raja Balwant Singh Revering Krishna and Radha

Raja Balwant Singh Revering Krishna and Radha

Raja Balwant Singh Revering Krishna and Radha

Artist:Attributed to Nainsukh (active ca. 1735–78)
Date:ca. 1745–50
Culture:India (Himachal Pradesh, Jasrota)
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions:Overall: 7 3/4 x 6 1/8 in. (19.7 x 15.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1994

Accession Number:1994.377
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 464

Here, Krishna and Radha appear as Raja Balwant Singh’s devotional vision. Subtly, Nainsukh has created two contrasting worlds, one occupied by the deities and the other by their devotee, who stands at the threshold. Balwant Singh looks into Krishna’s eyes and in turn receives his Lord’s grace. The setting is a terrace of the raja’s court framed by a landscape, and the orange canopy draws us into the divine space of the gods, who sit on a gilded, cushioned throne. Nainsukh gives tremendous power to this work by omitting embellishing design and thereby focusing on the essentials.

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