Royal lovers watching rain clouds: The month of Bhadon, from a Barahmasa

c. 1790

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Medium

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Measurements

Image: 13 x 9 cm (5 1/8 x 3 9/16 in.); Overall: 20.7 x 15.2 cm (8 1/8 x 6 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1973.104

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The oval format became popular after the 1760s with the expansion of British presence in India.

Description

Barahmasa means Twelve Months, and this painting came from a series that depicts scenes associated with each month of the Hindu calendar. Bhadon corresponds to a month straddling August and September. It is the middle of the monsoon season when rivers are swollen and continual rainstorms prevent travel and warfare. For this reason, men remain at home, and Bhadon is famed as a month for lovemaking.