Krishna Awaiting Radha (c. 1750–60): Art, History and Details

Krishna Awaiting Radha (c. 1750–60) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The Hindu god Krishna reclines on a bed, looking alertly ahead, waiting for his lover, Radha. He pays no attention to the two attendants holding a fan and peacock-feather whisk at his feet. Indian painters sought to convey the essence of Hindu devotional texts. In both the paintings and poetry, emotional empathy is created through situations depicted and described. God waits for his devotee to set aside worldly distractions and come to him, in order to reach the goal of Hindu religious practice: freedom from suffering and oneness with god. Similarly, Krishna, who is god incarnate, anxiously waits for Radha, his lover, to arrive and experience the bliss of union.

Object facts

• Title: Krishna Awaiting Radha
• Date: c. 1750–60
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 18.6 x 13.2 cm (7 5/16 x 5 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1936.685

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. Rajput Painting. London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1916.
• Hollis, Howard C. “Three Rajput Pictures.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 25, no. 6 (June 1938): 113–114.
• Archer, W. G. Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills; Essays. London: H.M. Stationary Off, 1952.

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.