" Krishna and his Friends Celebrate the Festival of
Holl
in the Forest of Brindaban " ( detail ), 1710
- 1720.
Rajasthan, Mewar. 62,9 x 90,8 cm
Phot. Katherine Wetzel,
© 1997 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
- Omnipotent god, epic hero and divine lover, Krishna
is one of Hindu India's most popular divinities. This exhibition of approximately
20 paintings from the Virginia Museum's collection reveals the powerful
impact that this colorful deity has had on Indian painters of the 17th
to the l9th centuries. These miniatures record different aspects of Krishna's
complex nature and rich mythology. Especially featured are representations
of Krishna's life: his childhood, when he lived among the cowherds in Brindaban;
his youth, when he flirted with the cow-maidens; his young manhood, when
he destroyed his demon uncle Kansa; and his later . years, when he ruled
Dwarka and participated in the great war between the Kaurava and Pandava
families as recorded in the "Mahabharata," one of India's great
epics.
- ORGANIZER: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
CURATOR: Dr. Joseph M. Dye III, E. Rhodes and
Leona B. Carpenter Curator of Asiatic Art
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