Krishna

This painting is an illustration to the Hindu text the Bhagavata Purana. It relates specifically to the section dealing with the events in the early life of the Hindu god Krishna. Here he is shown raising up Mount Govardhan on one finger-tip. He is doing this to shelter his friends the cowherds from a great storm unleashed by the god Indra, who was jealous of Krishna's powers. Indra's elephant mount appears in the top right of the painting, although Indra himself is no longer visible. The style of the painting suggests that the work was painted in Bundi in Rajasthan in about 1640. It shows a fusion of Rajasthani, especially Mewar, styles with the new realism that artists working at the Mughal court had introduced.