Royal Women Celebrating Diwali
Unknown Artist
c. 1760
Medium
gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
20.5 × 24.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession Number
1971.82
About this artwork
Lined along the eaves, the top of the marble lattice railing, and the rims of the boats on the river are candles and butter lamps lit in celebration of a New Year festival. A princess on a golden armchair lights sparklers with her friends. In the boats and on the far shore men set off sparklers under the light of a magnificent firework display under the full moon. The style of this work is typical of Mughal painting from the mid-1700s, when scenes of domestic life among women of the court were a...