The Mutiny of the Heroine Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi
Unknown Artist
c. 1890
Medium
Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper
Dimensions
painting only: 45.5 × 28 cm · secondary support: 48.5 × 29.6 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
Accession Number
2003.146
About this artwork
Rani Lakshmi Bai was a widow of Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi, whose state had been annexed by the British. On June 10, 1857, following a massacre of Europeans by local Indian troops, she was proclaimed ruler. One of the first freedom fighters, she resisted the British and was killed in June 1858. She later became a legendary mutiny heroine and an icon for the Indian independence movement. In this image she wears a British crown and has her sword raised.