Krishna and Balarama touching the feet of Vasudeva and Devaki, from the “Vertical” Bhagavata Purana (c. 1700–1725): Art, History and Details

Krishna and Balarama touching the feet of Vasudeva and Devaki, from the “Vertical” Bhagavata Purana (c. 1700–1725) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This intensely emotional scene depicts the reunion of the blue-skinned god Krishna with his parents for the first time since the night of his birth. The stark white expanse of wall that fills most of the composition evokes the desolate years of separation during which time his parents were in prison. According to the story, Krishna and his half-brother, the white-skinned Balarama, have just slain a wicked king and freed his parents. Nevertheless, they all wear fine garments and ornaments. The artist elected to emphasize the appearance of good fortune over realism, signaling to the viewer that this is a happy reunion.

Object facts

• Title: Krishna and Balarama touching the feet of Vasudeva and Devaki, from the “Vertical” Bhagavata Purana
• Date: c. 1700–1725
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, gold, and silver on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 28.5 x 21.6 cm (11 1/4 x 8 1/2 in.); Image: 24.3 x 16.5 cm (9 9/16 x 6 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.85

A detail from the museum

Krishna and Balarama wear a ring of bells on each foot.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.