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Augury of the crow (Vasakasajja Nayika)
c. 1800
- Medium
- Gum tempera and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 21.4 x 14.5 cm (8 7/16 x 5 11/16 in.)
- Culture
- Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Kids profiles and older: it shows nature, places, still life or a children's book. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The heroine in the doorway waits for her husband to return, but he is delayed, and ominous monsoon clouds gather in the distance. The pomegranate tree in her garden has ripe fruits full of seeds and bright red juices, suggestive of her fertility, but a crow is perched in the branches. The sound of a crow’s voice is an unlucky omen, and this further elevates her anxiety.
A king of Kangra owned this painting, and the buildings of one of Kangra’s forts sits in the distance. In this way, the artist has brought an image known from classical poetry to a recognizable locale.
