Vilaval Ragini: A Lady at Her Toilet

Dateca. 1640

MediumOpaque watercolor and gold on paper

DimensionsImage: 9 x 5 7/8 inches (22.8 x 15 cm)

CultureIndia, Rajasthan, Bikaner

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineAcquired through the George and Mary Rockwell Fund

Terms

Paintings
Female portraits
Beds
Clouds
Courtyards
Earrings
Female nudes
Jewelry
Kettles
Leisure
Mirrors
Necklaces
Pots
Servants
Shutters
Trees
Upper class
Veils
Indian

Object number98.129

Label CopyThis painting comes from a dispersed Ragamala (Garland of musical modes) series. The most common configuration of ragamala comprises thirty-six musical modes: six male modes, called raga, and thirty female modes, known as ragini (five "wives" for each male). Vilaval Ragini is personified as a beautiful young woman preparing to join her lover. The Rajputs, indigenous rulers of northern Indian territories, allied themselves to varying degrees with the Mughal emperors. During this period, Mughal influence melded with Indian painting traditions, resulting in a flourishing of the arts, especially the art of the book, as never before. This page and others in the series all show the same high degree of refinement in the treatment of the figures, architecture and landscape associated with imperial Mughal court painting, evidence that Maharaja Karan Singh of Bikaner (reigned 1631-69) must have employed Mughal-trained artists at his court. Other pages from this series are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

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