The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Krishna Quells the Serpent Kaliya, from a Bhagavata Purana

Krishna Quells the Serpent Kaliya, from a Bhagavata Purana

c. 1710
gum tempera and gold on paper
Page: 40.8 x 23 cm (16 1/16 x 9 1/16 in.); Miniature: 36.9 x 19.1 cm (14 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.)
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.141
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The snake-demon Kaliya holds a flower in his mouth for Krishna.

Description

In the forest where Krishna lived as a youth among the cowherds, there was a great pool of water connected to the Yamuna River. The water had become toxic from the poison excreted by all the snakes living there, including the serpent Kaliya. Kaliya’s royal residence is depicted at the lower right. In order to make the pool usable for drinking and bathing, Krishna tamed the serpent king by dancing on his heads. Krishna then persuaded him to move away to the ocean.
  • Ex collection: Khajanchi, Bikaner
    October 16, 1980
    (Christie’s, October 16, 1980, lot 174)
    ?–April 1990
    (Terence McInerney, New York, NY, sold to Ralph and Catherine Glynn Benkaim)
    1990–2001
    Ralph Benkaim [1914–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA
    2001–2018
    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
  • Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings (Indian art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2021-February 6, 2022).
  • {{cite web|title=Krishna Quells the Serpent Kaliya, from a Bhagavata Purana|url=false|author=|year=c. 1710|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.141