Posted on: 6 November 2012

Krishna and the Golden City of Dwarka from the Harivamsha (Geneology of Vishnu)
ca. 1585

Miskin active late 1570s–ca. 1604)
Mughal dynasty
Reign of Akbar

Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
H: 34.9 W: 23.2 cm
India

The painting represents the mythical city of Dwarka, where the blue-skinned Krishna, an incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu, is enthroned on a golden palace and surrounded by his kinsmen. A pastoral scene in the foreground evokes a familiar village setting and a sense that the gods are present in everyday life. This manuscript was painted for the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) who was quite interested in other religions. Akbar had translations made of major Hindu texts, including the Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata(Great Story of the Bharatas), known in its Persian translation as Razmnama (Book of Wars). This page is from a section appended to the Razmnama known as the Harivamsa (Genealogy of Vishnu), which narrates of the life of Krishna.

Copyright © 2012 Smithsonian Institution


 View Post on Facebook

Comments from Facebook

To continue on the theme of the sheer vibrancy of the Mughal court in terms of ideas and cultural interchange, the same painter Miskin, employed in the Mughal atelier, has also painted a famous depiction of the biblical scene of Noah's Ark! http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=F1948.8

Animals and birds usually feature very prominently in Miskin's work.

' at ' Kotharis of Rajgarh Antiques : Thank you for providing the link. Very interesting to see these well-known biblical allegories illustrated in the Mughul style ...