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Krishna asks for sweets, from a Sursagar of Surdas (Indian, c. 1480–1580)
1705–10
- Medium
- Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 36.5 x 25.4 cm (14 3/8 x 10 in.)
- Culture
- Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The heart of the scene is at the lower right, where the blue Hindu god Krishna as a boy is trying to persuade his foster mother Yashoda to give him more food. He is in the process of telling her that he needs extra treats so he can grow big to accomplish all the exploits depicted in the remainder of the page: herding cattle, killing demons, defeating wrestlers, and finally winning the throne of Mathura, as seen in the upper right where he sits crowned king in place of his evil uncle Kamsa.
