Artwork Page for Five Poses of Krishna Making Love, from a Bikaner Bhagavata Purana

Details / Information for Five Poses of Krishna Making Love, from a Bikaner Bhagavata Purana

Five Poses of Krishna Making Love, from a Bikaner Bhagavata Purana

c. 1600

Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner

Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Measurements
Miniature: 17.5 x 25.4 cm (6 7/8 x 10 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.187
Public Domain
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Location
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Did You Know?

Krishna can be seen making love on a swing in the central circle.

Description

When the Hindu god Vishnu incarnated as his human avatar Krishna, he spent his youth in a cowherd village. When he reached adolescence, the milkmaids were all drawn to him. A passage in the text explains that Krishna miraculously multiplied himself so he could be with each one individually, so they could experience the bliss of divine union.
A horizontally oriented tempera and gold painting depicts Krishna, a god with blue skin and a gold crown, and a woman with a light skin tone. In a central circular pavilion, they embrace against a yellow background. Krishna repeats four times in rectangular vignettes in the corners, shown in various sexual poses with the woman on patterned beds. The composition is set against a muted blue-gray background, with pink brickwork framing the center.

Five Poses of Krishna Making Love, from a Bikaner Bhagavata Purana

c. 1600

Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner

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