# Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Cowgirls (Gopis) (recto), from a Kalighat album

- Date: c. 1890
- Medium: Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Secondary Support: 48.5 x 29.9 cm (19 1/8 x 11 3/4 in.); Painting only: 45.5 x 28 cm (17 15/16 x 11 in.)
- Culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat
- Credit line: Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2003.114.a)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2003.114.a/2003.114.a_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In this image taken from both popular accounts and the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna has stolen the clothes of cowgirls (gopis) who are bathing in the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges River. He refuses to return their clothes, the purple saris seen hanging high in the tree, until they come out and bow to him with folded palms. Krishna, a cowherder, is holding a flute, which he uses to lure them away.