The Mutiny of the Heroine Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi

c. 1890

Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat

Medium

Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper

Measurements

Secondary Support: 48.5 x 29.6 cm (19 1/8 x 11 5/8 in.); Painting only: 45.5 x 28 cm (17 15/16 x 11 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward 2003.146

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Location

Not on view

Description

Rani Lakshmi Bai was a widow of Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi, whose state had been annexed by the British. On June 10, 1857, following a massacre of Europeans by local Indian troops, she was proclaimed ruler. One of the first freedom fighters, she resisted the British and was killed in June 1858. She later became a legendary mutiny heroine and an icon for the Indian independence movement. In this image she wears a British crown and has her sword raised.