Jarasandha’s army advances toward Krishna and Balarama, folio from a <em>Mahabharata</em>
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1800-1815
name: label: Artist
content: Attributed to Purkhu (active ca. 1780-ca. 1820)
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Kangra school
label: Inscriptions
content: Recto: The names of the principal figures have been inscribed on the painting.
label: Inscriptions
content: (Upper right, on the white wall of the thatched hut) Krishna, Balibhadra [another name for Balarama who is also called Bali and Balabhadra]
label: Inscriptions
content: (Upper left, on the blue bolster behind the king’s knee) Jarasandha
label: Inscriptions
content: Verso: (top center) numerals 38 in takri
label: Inscriptions
content: Verso: (top center) numerals 38 in takri
label: Label
content: Purkhu was the master of a large workshop in Kangra, a kingdom in the state that is today Himachal Pradesh, during the reign of a renowned patron of the arts, Maharaja Sansar Chand (r. 1775 - 1823). Purkhu and his workshop produced numerous portraits of Kangra's courtiers and several narrative series with oversize folios, including the Harivamsa.
label: Label
content: This Harivamsa folio exemplifies Purkhu's brilliant coloring and his uncanny ability to create a magical landscape. It is as if the Himalayan peaks described in Sanskrit epic poetry have become real, with kinnaras (bird-headed figures) among celestial beauties and sages who dwell amid jewel-studded crags.
label: Label
content: On the mountain, Krishna and Balarama sit beside a thatched hut and calmly gesture toward a swirling cloud of dust. At the center of the oncoming mass of soldiers, Jarasandha, the tyrannical king of Magadha, is shown largest in scale. Lest there be any confusion, his name is written in devanagari on the side of his golden chariot.
label: Provenance
content: To 1968
label: Provenance
content: Antique Arts, Bombay, India. [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1968 to 2001
label: Provenance
content: Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Antique Arts, Bombay, India in June 1968. [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 Glynn Benkaim. [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in 1968 from Antique Arts, Bombay, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [4] See Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.
label: Collection
content: National Museum of Asian Art Collection
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Antique Arts
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: Kangra, Himachal Pradesh state, India
topic: label: Topic
content: Krishna
label: Topic
content: battle
label: Topic
content: Mahabharata
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: Balarama
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: soldier
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: S2018.1.17
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): 32.7 × 43.4 cm (12 7/8 × 17 1/16 in)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 36.8 × 48.1 cm (14 1/2 × 18 15/16 in)