Nanda Solves Vasudeva’s Dilemma, from a Bhagavata Purana (c. 1610): Art, History and Details

Nanda Solves Vasudeva’s Dilemma, from a Bhagavata Purana (c. 1610) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Three cowherd boys stand behind their village elder Nanda, who agrees to hide the newborn Krishna, an incarnation of a Hindu god. At the left is Krishna’s father, Vasudeva, who has made this request in order to protect the child from slaughter by the despotic king, who had heard a prophecy that Krishna would one day kill him. This painting is from a series depicting scenes from a sacred Hindu text and was part of the royal Bikaner collection. The simple, geometric composition, profile views, and flat planes of color show adherence to long-standing local artistic styles.

Object facts

• Title: Nanda Solves Vasudeva’s Dilemma, from a Bhagavata Purana
• Date: c. 1610
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 24.8 x 29.9 cm (9 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2013.365

Collection credit

Gift of Kalesan Natesan in honor of Dr. Stanislaw Czuma

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.