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Nanda and the Elders in Council with the Cowherds, from a Bhagavata Purana

c. 1690–1700

Medium: Gum tempera, silver, and gold on paper
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: Page: 30 x 38 cm (11 13/16 x 14 15/16 in.); Miniature: 22.5 x 31.1 cm (8 7/8 x 12 1/4 in.)
Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase 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

About this work

The glowing hues and exquisite treatment of the figures and vegetation transport the viewer to the mythic realm of the Hindu god Krishna. Nanda, the lead elder of the cowherder village, sits amid the village council, larger than the others. After witnessing the divine and superhuman activities of Krishna, the cowherders approached Nanda and asked him for an explanation.