Krishna celebrates Holi

c. 1770

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Medium

Measurements

Page: 21 x 29.4 cm (8 1/4 x 11 9/16 in.); Image: 15.5 x 23.8 cm (6 1/8 x 9 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.104

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The painter has sprinkled color on the background to suggest colors thrown in the air.

Description

During the festival of Holi, Hindus celebrate the coming of spring by playfully throwing and shooting colored water and powders at one another. Among all the cowherd boys with whom he grew up, Krishna, a Hindu god incarnated on earth, is the only one able to reach the heart of a gopi, or milkmaid, with a well-aimed plunger full of colors. Raucous with sound as well as color, some of the boys play the drum, flute, and horns; girls strum a vina (stringed instrument), play a flute, and blow a whistle.