Description
The Wedding of Nala and Damayanti, North India, Upper Punjab, Pahari school, Kangra or Guler, early 19th century Pencil, ink, gouache, watercolor and gold on paper depicting a group of men and women on a palace terrace, under a canopy, stretching their hands towards the smoke escaping from a fire, as people on the terrace or in the side pavilions look on. Outside the palace enclosure, a procession of men on foot, horseback or elephant is greeted by prostrating courtiers. Total dimensions: 33.2 x 35.1 cm; painting dimensions: 28.7 x 29.9 cm Unfinished painting, folds, stains, mounted on cardboard. This highly narrative painting, with several actions depicted on the same page, illustrates the wedding of Nala and Damayanti, gathered around the sacred fire burning in the center, under a canopy. The love story between Nala, king of Naishadha, and Damayanti, daughter of the king of Vidarbha, is one of the most popular of Indian legends. The two heroes enjoy a peaceful love affair until the day Nala finds himself possessed by a demon... This adventurous story is told in several epic poems in Sanskrit, including the famous Mahabharata. It has inspired many artists, and several eponymous series of paintings from the workshops of Upper Punjab are well known. They are all characterized by a narrative reading, and many show the same unfinished aspect, notably in the filling in of colors. Five paintings from an earlier series are preserved at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, one of which depicts a wedding under a canopy of similar shape (1923.11). Our painting, which appears to have been modelled on a work in the National Museum in New Delhi (47.11), could be part of the same series as a painting sold at auction in Mumbai on March 3, 2017, lot 53, which shows another stage of the wedding, Nala's preparations and departure to marry Damayanti. Nala and Damayanti Wedding, North India, Punjab Hills, Pahari School, Kangra or Guler, Early 19th century
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The Wedding of Nala and Damayanti, North India, Upper Punjab
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