Skip Navigation

First Night in Exile, Page from a Dispersed Ramayana Series

Asian Art

This painting illustrates the story of Prince Rama, who is wrongly exiled from his father’s kingdom, accompanied only by his wife and brother. On their first night outside of the palace the three royals have to sleep on the ground in outfits made of leaves. Rama’s brother (with white skin) talks with the leader of a forest-dwelling tribe, whose men bring provisions. The image was created in brighter shades, as was typical for Indian painting, and then the artist applied a thin wash of bluish-gray over the entire surface, like a veil or curtain, to create the effect of the gloom of night.
CULTURE Indian
MEDIUM Opaque watercolor on paper
DATES ca. 1775–1780
DIMENSIONS sheet: 9 5/8 x 13 7/8 in. (24.4 x 35.2 cm) image: 7 7/8 x 12 1/8 in. (20.0 x 30.8 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Asian Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 80.181
CREDIT LINE Gift of Kaywin Lehman Smith
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Indian. First Night in Exile, Page from a Dispersed Ramayana Series, ca. 1775–1780. Opaque watercolor on paper, sheet: 9 5/8 x 13 7/8 in. (24.4 x 35.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Kaywin Lehman Smith, 80.181 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 80.181_IMLS_SL2.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 80.181_IMLS_SL2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.