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A Maid's Words to Radha, Page from a Dated Rasikapriya Series

Asian Art

This page is from one of the earliest illustrated versions of the Rasikapriya, a Hindu text that describes the love affair between the god Krishna and his beloved, Radha. It depicts a dejected Radha speaking with a confidante. The empty bed suggests that Radha has refused to see Krishna because she believes that he has been unfaithful. The text at the top quotes the friend, who asks Radha what joy there is to be had in denying herself the god’s beauty and charm. The painting is in the bright, flat, efficient style practiced in central India in the seventeenth century.
CULTURE Indian
MEDIUM Opaque watercolor on paper
  • Place Made: Malwa, India
  • DATES 1634
    DIMENSIONS sheet: 8 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (21.3 x 16.8 cm) image: 7 1/16 x 5 1/2 in. (17.9 x 14.0 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 86.227.51
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Indian. A Maid's Words to Radha, Page from a Dated Rasikapriya Series, 1634. Opaque watercolor on paper, sheet: 8 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (21.3 x 16.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.227.51 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.227.51.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 86.227.51.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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