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114
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Krishna and Balarāma fight the champions of Kamsa in the are…
See original version (French)
114
-
Krishna and Balarāma fight the champions of Kamsa in the are…
See original version (French)
Estimate €12,000 - €18,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Krishna and Balarāma fight the champions of Kamsa in the arena
Folio from the Bhāgavata Purāna (Book 10) known as the Palam, North India, Delhi, Agra, 1520-1530
Opaque pigments on paper.
Page: 22.8 x 17.4 cm (9 x 6.9 in.)
This folio illustrates an episode from Krishna's youth taken from Book 10 of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, a fundamental text of the Vishnuite tradition. Krishna, recognisable by his blue complexion, faces off with his brother Balarāma against the champions of the usurper king Kaṃsa in the arena, watched by the ladies of the court and gandharva (celestial beings). The fight is unfolded in two scenes that structure a particularly dynamic composition. On the left, Krishna fights a shield-wielding warrior, while Balarāma, in the lower register, overcomes an opponent who has already fallen to the ground. On the right, Krishna and Balarāma, side by side, push back a group of wrestlers whose bodies are tilting backwards, vividly conveying the violence of the confrontation. To one side, the ladies of the court watch the scene in awe, while above them celestial figures, including a four-headed figure and an ascetic, throw garlands of flowers in homage.
Provenance :
Galerie Marco Polo, Enrico Isacco, 210 bd St Germain Paris.
Private collection of the late Dr Robert Douat (1926-2004), collector of Indian paintings.
Related works:
Several folios from this group were shown at Sotheby's, including one also acquired from the Marco Polo Gallery, in 1989, on 27 October 2021, lot 144.
Rietbert Museum, Zurich, Inv. RVI 907.
Los Angeles County Museum, inv. N°M.71.1.9; M.91.69; M.71.1.8.
Harvard Art museum, CMassachusset, inv. n°1995.67
Bibliography :
Ehnbom, D. (2011). The Masters of the Dispersed "Bhagavata Purana." Artibus Asiae. Supplementum, 48, 77-88. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23220219
This painting belongs to the series of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa known as the Palam, one of the oldest surviving sets of illustrations of this text. Produced around 1520-1530, these images attest to an essential phase in the development of narrative painting in North India. The leaves consist of two sheets of paper glued together, bearing the painting on the front and a short Sanskrit excerpt from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa corresponding to the episode depicted on the reverse. In this case, the text repeats, in slightly abbreviated form, the beginning of chapter 44 of Book 10, which describes Krishna and Balarāma's fight against Kaṃsa's champions. In the margin, above the image, also appears the inscription "sa nānā", which is found on several leaves in this series: this is neither an artist's signature nor a patron's name, but a later annotation whose exact meaning remains uncertain (Ehnbom 2011).
The style of the illustration corresponds to that of the series and to pre-Mughal painting: figures in profile with large almond-shaped eyes, a saturated and contrasting palette, spaces organised by the superimposition of registers and the representation of scenes in a deliberately 'flat' space. The folios from this group are now held in several major collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as in various private collections.
A folio from the dispersed Palam Bhagavata Purana - Krishna and Balarama fighting the champions of Kamsa in the arena (Book 10, chapter 44), opaque pigments on paper, North India, c. 1520-1530.
The composition unfolds in two scenes: on the left, Krishna - recognisable by his blue complexion - fights a shield-bearing warrior, while in the lower register Balarama throws his opponent to the ground ; on the right, the two brothers stand side by side, repelling a group of wrestlers whose bodies tumble backwards in a vivid rendering of combat. Court ladies watch from the side in alarm, while celestial figures - including a four-headed deity and an ascetic - scatter flower garlands from above in homage.The leaf belongs to the celebrated Palam Bhagavata Purana, one of the earliest surviving illustrated cycles of the text, executed c. 1520-1530 and now dispersed across major collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and several private holdings. The folios consist of two sheets of paper glued together, the recto bearing the painting and the verso a short Sanskrit extract from the corresponding passage of the Bhagavata Purana. The marginal inscription sa nana, recurrent on folios of the series, remains of uncertain meaning (cf. D. Ehnbom, "The Masters of the Dispersed Bhagavata Purana", Artibus Asiae Supplementum, 48, 2011, pp. 77-88). The style - figures shown in profile with large almond eyes, saturated and contrasting palette, registers stacked in a deliberately flat pictorial space - is characteristic of pre-Mughal North Indian painting and marks an essential phase in the development of Indian narrative painting.
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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