The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Celebrations of Krishna's Birth, from a Bhagavata Purana

c. 1725–30

Northern India, Himachal Pradesh, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba

Gum tempera and gold on paper
Image: 22.9 x 15.2 cm (9 x 6 in.); with mat: 49 x 36.3 cm (19 5/16 x 14 5/16 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1988.70
Location: Not on view

Description

The Hindu kingdom of Mankot in the western foothills of the Himalayas developed a bold style of painting in which figures in strict profile stand out against an intense yellow ground. Musicians enthusiastically proclaim the arrival of infant Krishna at the village of Vraj, where he was brought as a newborn to grow to maturity in safety among the cowherders. He was secreted away from the evil king Kamsa who wanted to murder the child on account of a prophecy that foretold his own death by Krishna. Krishna’s adoptive father Nanda, the village headmaster, receives tufts of grass as tokens of congratulations from a well-wisher, while a soldier salutes him.
  • Ehrenfeld
    ?–1988
    (Mr. Ramesh Kapoor, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1988–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “The Year in Review for 1988.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 76, no. 2 (February 1989): 30–75. Reproduced: p. 58; Mentioned: p. 74, no. 213 www.jstor.org
    Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 13, pp. 34, 153, 178
  • Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 145). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 5-April 27, 2015).
    Masters of Indian Painting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (September 26, 2011-January 18, 2012).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-August 18, 2004).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 4-August 5, 2003).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-December 8, 1996).
    The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).
  • {{cite web|title=Celebrations of Krishna's Birth, from a Bhagavata Purana|url=false|author=|year=c. 1725–30|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.70