Rati, the Goddess of Erotic Love, Takes Aim at Krishna, from a Rasikapriya
Unknown Artist
c. 1660
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
page: 31.8 × 26 cm · miniature: 26 × 23.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2018.183
About this artwork
In a brightly lit chamber, the heroine (nayika) confers with her confidante (sakhi), perhaps to convey a message to Krishna, who sits in a grove near a lotus pond at the lower right. In the lower left corner, Rati shoots a flower arrow at Krisha to smite him with love for the nayika. The empty bower in the upper right awaits the lovers’ tryst.