Handpainted – Pichwai – Shrinathji in Saffron with Four Gopis

Provenance

'Shrinathji in Saffron with Four Gopis' is a Pichwai painting in which the deity, dressed in saffron, stands in a garden shrine with two women on each side. It follows the classic Nathdwara arrangement of a frontal Shrinathji with attendants, and the warm orange of his garments makes him glow against the cool night garden.

Shrinathji stands in a pale niche with a dark-blue face, a peacock-feather crown and a raised left arm holding a coral cloth, and his saffron robe is covered in rows of tiny white dots. Pink lotuses rise at his side, and a petal garland frames his chest. On the left, one woman raises a white feather whisk while another carries a tray of offerings; on the right, one raises a whisk and another holds a peacock-feather fan. Two peacocks cross the grass below, above a white brick wall and a pond of pink lotuses.

Saffron, green, coral and blue lead the palette, with the white wall and the pale niche giving the lower half a clean, open band. The women's skirts are painted in sheer layers of green, coral and gold, dotted with white. A yellow border of pink and blue flowers frames the scene. It is a bright, welcoming painting for an entrance, a living room or a prayer room.