Handpainted – Pichwai – Shrinathji with Six Gopis by the Lotus Pond

Provenance

'Shrinathji with Six Gopis by the Lotus Pond' is a horizontal Pichwai painting in which the deity stands at the centre of a moonlit grove, with three women on each side. The wide format follows the long hangings of the Nathdwara tradition, letting the procession of attendants spread across the picture like a frieze.

Shrinathji stands in a gold-edged niche with a dark-blue face, a peacock-feather crown and a raised left arm holding a pink cloth, wearing a skirt of blue, pink, green and yellow bands with pearl strands and a petal garland. Carved stands with offerings rest at his feet. Three women on each side, in coral, pink and turquoise skirts, raise fruit and offerings towards him. Banana plants and dark trees rise beneath a starry blue sky with a white moon, and two peacocks stand beside a pond of pink lotuses in the foreground.

Coral, pink, turquoise and green make a soft, rhythmic palette, with the blue sky and the dark trees giving it depth. The sheer, dotted skirts repeat across the width of the painting, so the eye moves steadily from one figure to the next. A yellow border of pink and blue flowers frames the scene. It is an elegant painting for a long wall above a sofa, bed or console.