Cremation of the Demoness Putana, from a Krishna-Lila
Unknown Artist
c. 1790
Medium
Gum tempera and ink on paper
Dimensions
20.9 × 31.2 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Delia E. Holden Fund
Accession Number
1984.4
About this artwork
In the foreground the grotesque oversized corpse of Putana is being cut up with much difficulty by the men of Vraj, the cowherd village where the Hindu god Krishna lived in his infancy and youth. Her forearms and hands are already being conveyed to the massive pyre at the upper left. Krishna’s foster father Nanda, the elder of the village, has come in a bullock cart to survey the situation, putting his finger to his mouth in the gesture of astonishment. At the right, baby Krishna is being bathed...