Cleveland Museum of Art
Taking of the toll, Dana-Lila
- Date
- c. 1760
- Medium
- Gum tempera and gold on paper
- Culture
- Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 314122
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
Radha, the blue god Krishna’s beloved, raises one hand, reddened with henna (temporary natural dye), to strike him. Cows and her companions look on. This interlude is based on a devotional poem written by Dev Datt (about 1673–1745), in which he imagines this scene. Radha has dressed up as a soldier of the evil tyrant Kamsa. She shouts, “You are accused of taking the toll from milkmaids. . . . You are a traitor!” In the distance at the top of the painting, Krishna’s friends, who do not know that the couple is playing, run away in fear. One milkmaid points to her mouth in a gesture of surprise.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Provenance
- ?–2018: Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 2018–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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