Nathdwara painting

also: Nathdwara school · Pichhwai

school tradition late 17th century-present Rajasthan India

Nathdwara painting is the devotional school that grew up around the temple of Shrinathji in Nathdwara, Rajasthan. When the image of Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan was installed in the town in 1670 to escape Mughal persecution, artists gathered to serve the shrine and a distinctive tradition formed - part of the wider Mewar school and strongest in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its best-known products are pichhwai (from 'back hanging'): large cloth paintings hung behind the deity, depicting Krishna's life, the festivals and seasons of the temple calendar, and the god dressed as a jewelled prince among the gopis. Every painting is seva - an offering - and works are often produced collectively by workshop communities such as the painters' lanes of the town, with several hands working under a master artist.

"Gouache painting on paper from Nathdwara representing the autumn Annakuta Festival. This annual festival is observed by donating a mountain
"Gouache painting on paper from Nathdwara representing the autumn Annakuta Festival. This annual festival is observed by donating a mountainPublic domain (credit: Unknown artist Unknown artist) · source

Defining characteristics

  • The dark figure of Shrinathji posed frontally with one arm raised, lifting Govardhan hill
  • Rich, flat colour and gold: dense surface pattern, jewels, textiles, and ornamental borders
  • Seasonal and festival cycles: lotuses and swings for the rains, lamps and Annakut for autumn
  • Devotional subjectwork: Krishna as prince surrounded by gopis, cows, Yashoda, Nandlal and Balgopal
  • Opaque gouache on cloth and paper; some works are gem-encrusted
  • Workshop collaboration: several hands under a master painter, composing for temple ritual

Key figures

  • Vallabhacharya (1479-1531) — Founder of the Pushtimarg devotional tradition whose Shrinathji worship the paintings serve
  • Acharya Gopinathji (fl. late 17th century) — Early Nathdwara painter who came to the town after 1670 to paint Shrinathji
  • Ghasiram Sharma (1869-1931) — Late-period Nathdwara painter of temple scenes and portraits of the head priests

Example works

  • Annakut Festival — Unknown (Nathdwara workshop) (late 18th century)
  • The Head Priest (Tilakayat) Govardhanlalji Makes Offerings to Shrinathji — Ghasiram Sharma (undated)
  • Krishna as Shrinathji — Unknown (Nathdwara workshop) (late 19th century)

Sources

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