Nanda and the Elders in Council with the Cowherds, from a Bhagavata Purana

c. 1690–1700

Nanda and the Elders in Council with the Cowherds, from a Bhagavata Purana, c. 1690–1700. Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner. Gum tempera, silver, and gold on paper; page: 30 x 38 cm (11 13/16 x 14 15/16 in.); miniature: 22.5 x 31.1 cm (8 7/8 x 12 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.192 The glowing hues and exquisite treatment of the figures and vegetation transport the viewer to the mythic realm of the Hindu god Krishna. Nanda, the lead elder of the cowherder village, sits amid the village council, larger than the others. After witnessing the divine and superhuman activities of Krishna, the cowherders approached Nanda and asked him for an explanation. Each of the cowherd boys wears a different color hood.