The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Royal Women Celebrating Diwali

Royal Women Celebrating Diwali

c. 1760
gum tempera and gold on paper
Image: 20.5 x 24.7 cm (8 1/16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1971.82
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

"Diwali" comes from the Sanskrit words dīpa (lamp) and āvali (rows or series).

Description

Lined along the eaves, the top of the marble lattice railing, and the rims of the boats on the river are candles and butter lamps lit in celebration of a New Year festival. A princess on a golden armchair lights sparklers with her friends. In the boats and on the far shore men set off sparklers under the light of a magnificent firework display under the full moon.

The style of this work is typical of Mughal painting from the mid-1700s, when scenes of domestic life among women of the court were a favorite subject for the imperial artists.
  • ?-1971
    John D. MacDonald, Cambridge, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1971-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 46
    Sugimura, Tō 杉村棟 . Isurāmu [イスラーム = New history of world art, Islam].Tōkyō: Shōgakukan, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 185, p. 311
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 5-April 27, 2015).
    Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-December 8, 1996).
  • {{cite web|title=Royal Women Celebrating Diwali|url=false|author=|year=c. 1760|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.82