painting, miniature. c. 1760. Museum Purchase for the Guthrie-Goodwin Collection. 1956.22.

image height: 7.75 in, 19.685 cm; image width: 5.125 in, 13.0175 cm; sheet height: 16.125 in, 40.9575 cm; sheet width: 11 in, 27.94 cm; mat height: 22 in, 55.8800 cm; mat width: 16 in, 40.6400 cm; window height: 9 3/8 in, 23.8125 cm; window width: 6 5/8 i

Arts of Asia

Arts of Asia

In the style of Faqir Ullah
Page from a Ragamala series: Bhairava Raga
About 1760,  Mughal dynasty (1526–1857)
Lucknow, India
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Purchase for the Guthrie-Goodwin Collection
1956.22

This atmospheric nocturnal image is filled with mystery, piety, and enchantment. Sheltered by a tree with bottlebrush leaves, the Hindu god Shiva, holding an Indian stringed instrument called a vina, attends a ritual ceremony held in his honor. A tripod supports a water vessel above a white shrine around which three women make offerings, while a fourth plays a tambourine. Nandi the bull, the vehicle of Shiva, sits nearby. The artist uses intense hues of color on the figures to heighten the drama of the night scene, illuminated only by the lamps and a few stars. A distant walled town provides contrast to the country setting in the foreground.