Day 170 - Rajasthani painting


July 22, 2019

I must say that Gallery 464, the last of the Islamic galleries, feels somewhat anticlimactic. The gallery  focuses on the arts - painting, metalwork, glasswork - of what are now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh between 1500 and 1900. Its relationship to the other Islamic galleries seems less than straightforward: Many but by no means all of the objects come from areas with Muslim rulers, and many of the paintings in the gallery portray scenes associated with Hindu gods and heroes. To me, this gallery could fit just as well - maybe better - with the Met's other South Asian galleries.

But I do respond to this painting, done in opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper,  entitled "Maharana Sarup Singh Inspects a Prize Stallion." Measuring perhaps 24" X 20," it was painted by a painter named Tara in Udaipur in 1845-1846. I especially like the elaborate woven ground cloth on which the  maharana sits on a raised divan surrounded by his entourage. Its members include soldiers or guards, seated at the top of the composition with their swords aligned on a diagonal, and female figures at the bottom, some of whom may be holding musical instruments. All the elements are united by the pink-and-green color scheme; The men's turbans are pink, as is the zigzag blanket covering most of the horse's body. Tying together the composition, too, all the figures, including the horse, are sheltered by a large rose-toned canopy.

Apparently, favorite horses and elephants were much prized - and memorialized in art. 

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