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Kartikeya, from a Kalighat album

c. 1890

Medium: Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: Secondary Support: 47.8 x 29.1 cm (18 13/16 x 11 7/16 in.); Painting only: 45.8 x 28.2 cm (18 1/16 x 11 1/8 in.)
Culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line: Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
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

About this work

Here Kartikeya, god of war and son of Shiva and Parvati, born to annihilate the demon Taraka, is provocatively depicted as a dandy. Sitting astride his vehicle, the peacock, Kartikeya has a Prince Albert hairstyle and buckled European shoes. Fashionably draping his shawl, Karitkeya’s backdrop is a halo created by the peacock’s tail. The painting integrates prevailing Bengali social mores with traditional images and themes.