On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Krishna Returns to Nanda’s House at Dusk
This unfinished drawing is a full-scale cartoon for a section of an altar hanging (picchavai) for a shrine devoted to Krishna as Shri Brijnathji Vallabha. The rendering of turreted palace architecture links the drawing to Rajasthani images from Udaipur, while the stylized depiction of the women reflects the ideals of feminine beauty as celebrated in eighteenth-century Kishangarh painting. The scene depicts the moment at dusk known as “cowdust hour,” when the herds and their minders return from the fields accompanied by Krishna, whose arrival is eagerly awaited by an assembly of young women. The cows are drawn with great sensitivity, their dewy eyes evoking sweet contentment. This finished picchavai was intended to be displayed during the celebration of Sandaya Arati, the offering of light to honor the deity in the summer month of Shravan, in late July–August.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
