Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana in the forest
Unknown Artist
c. 1830
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
23.9 × 17.3 cm · painting: 21.5 × 15.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
Accession Number
1989.332
About this artwork
Although banished from their home, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana enjoy ten years of relative peace in the wilderness. They build a small hut, make clothes of bark cloth, and eat from the bounty of the forest. Lakshmana neatly prepares meat and roasts kabobs over a fire. The oval format, adopted from European models, suggests this scene was part of an album series. The pale hues and placement of figures in a space that recedes into the background reveal awareness of imperial Mughal paintings. The hil...