indian art - miniatures - archecticture - vedic philosophy
 
 
   

 
Classical - Mewari - Gita-Govinda - Series Two
 
Plate 31 - "Haramamalatara... ghana vilamba..."  

 

Next Picture

"He toyed with ropes of clear pearls
lying on his chest
Like the dark Jamuna current
churning shining swells of foam."


The artist conveys a pictorial decorative pleasantness. The empty bower is repeated. In the second bower both Krsna and Radha are repeated. Krsna sits with legs rather clumsily crossed. The strings of pearls are prominently featured. A second Krsna embraces Radha. Another Radha represents the moment immediately preceding. Radha stands coyly holding her veil. The sakhi stands outside. The Radha with the veil is the most sensitively drawn figure of the painting which can be singled out. Impressive also is the delineation of another tree, presumably the kadamba. Its trunk and foliage have a rare charm and grace seldom witnessed. The tree on which Kamadeva sits is also an interesting composition.
 
In one Gita-Govtitda Set from Assam of the early eighteenth century, the artist employed the simile of the moonlight shining on the foam of a churning Jamuna and creates a vivid picture of foams rising on the surface of the river.