The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Battle of Ravana and Jatayu, from Chapters 50 and 51 of the Aranya Kanda (Book of the Forest) of Valmiki's Ramayana (Rama’s Journey); folio from the "Burnt" Ramayana

Battle of Ravana and Jatayu, from Chapters 50 and 51 of the Aranya Kanda (Book of the Forest) of Valmiki's Ramayana (Rama’s Journey); folio from the "Burnt" Ramayana

c. 1605
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This page is from a series known as the “Burnt Ramayana,” since it was damaged by fire.

Description

The vulture Jatayu, Lord of the Birds, his beak agape, loses feathers and dark red blood in his desperate fight to save Sita from her kidnapper, the ten-headed Ravana. Since this painting was damaged by fire in India decades ago, Sita is barely visible now at the bottom right corner, in Ravana’s donkey-led chariot. Her expression is pensive, as she awaits her fate. In adherence to the Ramayana text written on the back of the painting, the donkeys were the first victims in the battle that will claim Jatayu’s life.
  • ?–1947
    Datia Palace Collection, India
    1947–1950
    Private Collection, Calcutta, India
    1950–1955
    Private collection, Europe
    ?–October 2001
    (Terence McInerney Fine Arts, New York, NY, sold ot the Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim Collection)
    2001–2013
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim Collection
    2013–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • McGill, Forest, ed. The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2016. Reproduced: cat. no. 120, pp. 230–31.
    Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Reproduced: cat. no. 40, pp. 326–327.
  • Imagining Rama's Journey (Indian Painting rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-September 17, 2023).
    The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (organizer) (October 21, 2016-January 15, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Battle of Ravana and Jatayu, from Chapters 50 and 51 of the Aranya Kanda (Book of the Forest) of Valmiki's Ramayana (Rama’s Journey); folio from the "Burnt" Ramayana|url=false|author=|year=c. 1605|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.306