The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Heroine with attendant and a pair of deer

c. 1710–20

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

gum tempera on paper
Page: 21.9 x 15.6 cm (8 5/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 16.7 x 10.1 cm (6 9/16 x 4 in.)
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.108
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The lady fondling the deer is adorned in a transparent muslin shawl.

Description

A heroine’s ardor for her absent lover is so strong that it attracts a deer and doe, otherwise shy animals. The woman holding a stringed instrument at the right signals that this scene has a musical theme. Intensely staring gazes, the heroine’s elongated legs, the impossible turn of her head in the opposite direction as her feet, and the unaided dance of her hems add to the miraculous quality of the scene.
  • 2002–2018
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2018–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10, 2018-April 7, 2019).
  • {{cite web|title=Heroine with attendant and a pair of deer|url=false|author=|year=c. 1710–20|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.108