This is a series of paintings from Rajasthan (north-western India), representing verses from the 12th-century Sanskrit devotional poem Gita Govinda (‘Song of the Cowherd’) by Jayadeva.

The Gita Govinda is composed as a cycle of 24 songs, each consisting of eight verses. The Royal Collection’s group of paintings illustrates 24 verses from the beginning of the poem to the middle of the third song. They comprise the first part of what would have been a series of nearly 200 loose folios. The opening verses introduce the poem and the poet; the first song introduces the ten avatars of the Hindu deity Vishnu; the second song begins the narrative of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, and his lover Radha, a mortal cowherdess. Their recurrent separations and blissful reunions are metaphors for the separation of the soul from the Divine and their ultimate ecstasy in union.

Stylistically, the series can be connected to artists of Amber, the old state capital of Jaipur in Rajasthan. The paintings are characterised by their bright palette, which includes strong reds and Indian yellow. The division of space into two or more planes defines different time and places within a single frame.

The artists also depict patron figures as active participants in the paintings, acting as portraits of earlier Kachhwaha rulers of Amber and Jaipur. The series is likely to have been commissioned by Maharajah Pratap Singh (r.1778-1803), himself a poet whose own writings often elaborated on the Radha-Krisha theme.

This series was presented as a bound album to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), on 27 November 1875 in Mumbai, when he attended the wedding celebrations for the son of Sir Mangaldas Nathubhoy, a local businessman and social reformer. Albert Edward was presented with two other albums at the same time (RCINs 1005113, 1005115).

Binding description
Place of production unknown, late 19th century. Red goatskin album inscribed ‘Exploits of seven and eight incarnations of Hindoo god Vishnu / viz / Ram & Krishna’.