Cleveland Museum of Art

A Ruler Seated on a Terrace Worshipping at a Shrine of Radha and Krishna

Date

c. 1800

Medium

gum tempera and gold on paper

Culture

Central India, Madhya Pradesh

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

A noble clad in a black woolen shawl and a red turban, both with delicate floral embroidery, kneels before a small shrine with icons of Krishna fluting alongside his lover Radha. An attendant dressed in white holds a fly whisk that denotes the kneeling figure’s royal status. The black sky with light horizon suggests that the sun has recently set. In spite of the individualized facial features, this noble remains unidentified. Both figures have rosaries of rudraksha beads usually worn by followers of Shiva, instead of Krishna.

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