Maharaja Chattarsol of Kota Shooting Lions
Unknown Artist
c. 1860
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
30 × 22.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski
Accession Number
2011.150
About this artwork
The trope of a royal marksman shooting at a pair of lions drinking at a pond extended into the second half of the 1800s at the Kota court. This suggests that earlier examples of this theme were prized and remembered for generations. By the time this painting was made, artists had access to synthetic pigments that were developed in the West, and more brilliant blues and greens distinguish a work such as this from its predecessors.