Collection Online as of September 22, 2023
Five Poses of Krishna Making Love, from a Bikaner Bhagavata Purana
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Miniature: 17.5 x 25.4 cm (6 7/8 x 10 in.)
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.187
Location
not on view
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.