Digital Rare Book:
Gita Govinda of Jayadeva
With an English introduction by Dr.M.V. Krishna Rao
Published by Satsangha Seva Samithi, Bangalore – 1900
Image:
An illustration depicting Radha enveloped in Krishna’s embrace
Radha and Krishna are pictured in their bedchamber whose adjoining terrace opens out into a lotus pond with distant hills visible in the background.
School of Sajnu
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper / image 9 5/16 by 6 7/8 in. (23.6 by 17.4 cm.) / circa 1790-1800 / India, Kangra
Sajnu was an artist who originally hailed from Kangra, but later migrated to the court of Raja Isvari Sen (r. 1788-1826), the ruler of Mandi. Sajnu was a master of the stylistic conventions of the Kangra Valley. His lyrical works are characterised by their exceptionally delicate treatment of facial features, an extensive use of white and a preoccupation with geometric compositional devices, all seen in the present work.
W. G. Archer comments that in some cases Sajnu’s jagged angular rhythms violate realism for geometric drama (W. G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, Vol. 1, 1973, p. 316). This is manifest in the plethora of canted forms cascading through the picture plane and even in the exaggerated crook of Krishna’s arm within which Radha rests.
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