Girls Spraying Each Other at Holi
Unknown Artist
c. 1640–50
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
19 × 12.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession Number
1971.83
About this artwork
The antics of Holi, the festival of spring, are in full tilt in this scene that takes place in the women's quarters of a palace. Most of the women have already been stained with the red and yellow colors that they squirt and smear on one another to the beat of handheld drums and a lively song. In a composition repeated from an imperial Mughal scene, one woman aggressively and playfully has another in a headlock and pours red liquid down her blouse. The princely state of Bikaner had close ties wi...