The sage-physician Dhanvantari, folio from the “Sixth” <em>Bhagavata Purana</em> series, also known as the “small” Guler-Basohli series
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1735-1740
name: label: Artist
content: Attributed to Manaku (active ca.1700-1760)
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Guler school
label: Description
content: Dressed in the fashion of a nobleman at the court of Shah Jahan, the divine sage Dhanvantari wears a white jama and a gold-bordered patka (sash) adorned with a large flower motif. His beard is white, his face wrinkled with age, and he wears a Vaishnava tilak mark on his forehead. He sits on a yellow carpet decorated with gray-green leaves and maroon flowers. A narrow strip of cloud-streaked sky borders the brilliant orange ground. He holds two objects that may be associated with medicine.
label: Inscriptions
content: Verso: Three lines of Devanagari script in black and red ink: Herewith ends the first chapter Bhagavat Mahapurana. Dhanvantari (twelfth avatar) 16
label: Label
content: Dhanvantari, whose name means "arrow-moving," is regarded as the father of Ayurvedic medicine. The Bhagavata Purana relates that he emerged among the treasures thrown up by the turning of the sea, when the gods and demons worked together to churn the primordial ocean, thereby creating the entire universe. Dhanvantari appeared from the roiling waters bearing a jug filled with amrita, the nectar of immortality, as a gift for the gods. In more typical iconography, the sage holds the amrita jug and a conch shell signalling his affiliation with the god Vishnu. Here, however, Dhanvantari holds perhaps an air pump and a plant root.
label: Label
content: Ayurveda, the indigenous medical system of India, has been practiced for thousands of years. Beyond herbal remedies and diet recommendations, Ayurvedic texts dating to the sixth century provide instructions on procedures as sophisticated as cataract removal and rhinoplasty. Ayurvedic medicine is popular today in both India and America, and is often used in conjunction with modern medicinal technologies. Hindus traditionally worship Dhanvantari for good health on the first day of Diwali.
label: Label
content: All surviving paintings and preparatory drawings from the small Bhagavata Purana are attributed to the renowned artist Manaku. From a renowned artistic family, Manaku was the son of Pandit Seu and the elder brother of Nainsukh. He was born in the small Pahari kingdom of Guler ca. 1700 and began receiving important commissions by around 1725. The small Bhagavata Purana was commissioned around 1740. Traditional Pahari painting features flattened figures bounded by a strong contour, set within intensely colored backgrounds, bordered by a narrow strip of sky at top and a strip of river at bottom. Manaku brought this regional style to its apex.
label: Provenance
content: To 1967
label: Provenance
content: Essajees, Mumbai, India. [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1967 to 2001
label: Provenance
content: Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from the Essajees, Mumbai, India in December 1967. [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 2001 to 2018
label: Provenance
content: Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 2018
label: Provenance
content: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glyn Benkaim. [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in December 1967 from the Essajees of Mumbai, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.
label: Provenance
content: [4] See note 3.
label: Collection
content: National Museum of Asian Art Collection
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Essajee's (founded 1890)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Ralph and Catherine Benkaim
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Catherine Glynn Benkaim (born 1946)
place: label: Origin
content: Guler, Himachal Pradesh state, India
topic: label: Topic
content: portrait
label: Topic
content: man
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: physician
label: Topic
content: Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
setName: label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: S2018.1.7
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 16.5 × 26.7 cm (6 1/2 × 10 1/2 in)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 20.7 × 31.1 cm (8 1/8 × 12 1/4 in)