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Bhima’s consultation with the astrologer, from a Nala-Damayanti
c. 1790–1800
- Medium
- Gum tempera and ink on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 22.2 x 33.5 cm (8 3/4 x 13 3/16 in.)
- Culture
- Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Edward L. Whittemore Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
In the central pavilion, King Bhima, father of Princess Damayanti, receives favorable signs from his astrologers for her marriage to her beloved, Nala. In the upper left corner, King Bhima tells the good news to his daughter, while messengers inform Nala in the upper right. This lyrical series depicts scenes from an extended romantic poem of the 1100s, based on an episode from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.
The plan to create a painted series illustrating the story was not fully realized. Forty-seven paintings were completed, but another 65, including this page, remain unfinished, revealing underdrawings and the first application of color.
