Handpainted – Pichwai – Shrinathji with the Priests and Musicians

Provenance

'Shrinathji with the Priests and Musicians' is a Pichwai painting set within a temple courtyard, in which two priests and two kneeling women attend the deity. It follows the Nathdwara tradition of a large, frontal Shrinathji, and the priests at his side give the picture the feeling of a temple service in progress.

Shrinathji stands before a pale niche with a dark-blue face, a peacock-feather crown and a raised left arm holding a coral cloth, wearing a skirt of blue, pink, green and yellow bands with pearl strands and a petal garland. On each side stands a priest with a tilak, a moustache and a cream dhoti and shawl, one offering a bowl and the other holding a peacock-feather fan. Below, two kneeling women play, one with a small instrument to her lips and the other with cymbals. Carved wooden stands hold offerings on a tiled floor above a pond of pink lotuses.

Blue, coral, cream and green lead the palette, with the cream robes of the priests forming two calm columns on either side of the bright central figure. Fine dots on the garments and the pale green tiles of the floor give the composition order and texture. A yellow border of pink and blue flowers frames the scene. It is a dignified, devotional painting for a prayer room or a study.