INDIA, RAJASTHAN, KISHANGARH, 19TH CENTURY

The present painting is a later reworking of a larger composition attributed to the Kishangarh court artist Nihal Chand, circa 1735-1757, published by E. Dickinson and K. Khandalava in Kishangarh Painting, New Delhi, 1959, p. 32, plate VII. The scene depicts Sanjhi Lila, a festival for the namesake mother goddess, in which only women are allowed to participate. Krishna, longing to be with his beloved, masquerades as a woman so he can join Radha and her maidens in the festivities. In the present scene, both Radha and Krishna are delineated by a gold halo. Khandalavala and Dickinson suggest that the design of the composition might be inspired by Persian garden carpets, in which each scene is enclosed by a panel.