Handpainted – Pichwai – Shrinathji with the Kneeling Musicians

Provenance

'Shrinathji with the Kneeling Musicians' is a Pichwai painting in which the deity fills the centre of the picture, attended by four women in a moonlit garden shrine. It follows the Nathdwara tradition of a large, frontal Shrinathji with devotees at his side, and the addition of two seated musicians gives the scene a sense of worship 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, and a skirt of blue, green, pink and yellow bands edged in gold. Long pearl strands and a garland of pink and white petals decorate the figure, with pink lotuses at his side. Two standing women raise white feather whisks, while two kneeling women play below, one with a small instrument to her lips and the other with a pair of cymbals. A tiled floor, white steps and a lotus pond lie beneath a starry sky and banana leaves.

Blue, green, coral and gold form a bright, festive palette, with the white steps and pale niche giving the composition breathing space. The skirts and the deity's garments are covered with fine dots, and the border of pink and blue flowers on yellow echoes their colours. It is a joyful, devotional painting for a prayer room, an entrance or a living room.