Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

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Krishna dancing on the head of Kaliyafront

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Krishna dancing on the head of Kaliya

  • loan

  • Description

    The freethinking Akbar commissioned illustrations to a number of Hindu mythological texts. The Harivamsha narrates the early life of Krishna among the villagers of the Braj region. Even in infancy he revealed his divine nature by feats of strength and slaying demons. Here the young Krishna overcomes the serpent Kaliya, whose presence in the Jumna river had threatened the villagers and their cows. Playing his flute, Krishna dances victoriously on the serpent’s heads.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    Genealogy of the god Vishnu
    Associated place
    Asia › India › north India (place of creation)
    Date
    1590 - 1595
    Mughal Period (1526 - 1858)
    Associated people
    Akbar (ruled 1556 - 1605) (commissioner)
    Material and technique
    gouache with gold on paper
    Dimensions
    frame 42.5 x 30.4 x 2.3 cm (height x width x depth)
    painting 30.9 x 18.8 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper,
    processed material › metal › gold
    Technique index
    covered › coated › painted,
    marked › painted,
    decorated › painted,
    painted
    Object type index
    visual representation › album,
    visual representation › painting
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Lent by Howard Hodgkin.
    Accession no.
    LI118.101

  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2nd February-22nd April 2012, Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin, Andrew Topsfield, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2012), no. 6 on p. 34, p. 17, illus. p. 35

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • Returned to lender

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

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