Sacrificial Fire, from the "Tula Ram" Bhagavata Purana
Unknown Artist
c. 1720
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
25.4 × 21.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of John D. Proctor
Accession Number
1990.40
About this artwork
The evil king Kamsa organized a fire sacrifice in order to bring about the death of his brother-in-law, Vasudeva, father of the Hindu god incarnated as Krishna. The four-armed god of creation, Brahma, attends at the upper left with the sage, or holy man, Narada at the upper right. Scholars have linked the copious floral motifs throughout this dispersed series with textile patterns. This series was created in a port city, the center of flourishing international textile trade.