Handpainted – Pichwai – Shrinathji with Six Gopis and Peacocks

Provenance

'Shrinathji with Six Gopis and Peacocks' is a horizontal Pichwai painting in which six women bring offerings to the deity in a moonlit garden. Its wide, frieze-like format recalls the long hangings of the Nathdwara tradition, and the procession of attendants gives the scene a gentle, ceremonial movement.

Shrinathji stands in a gold-edged niche with a dark-blue face, a peacock-feather crown and a raised left arm holding a maroon cloth, wearing a saffron skirt with pearl strands, a petal garland and a pink lotus at his side. The two women nearest him present trays of offerings, while the others raise fruit or rest their hands at their hearts. Their skirts are pink, coral and turquoise. Banana plants and dark trees rise beneath a starry sky with a white moon, and three peacocks walk through the grass in the foreground.

Coral, pink, saffron and green lead the palette, with the maroon cloth adding a deeper note at the centre. The grass is scattered with tiny pink flowers, and the sheer, dotted skirts give the figures a light, layered look. A yellow border of pink and blue flowers frames the scene. It is a warm, graceful painting for a long wall in a living or dining room.