Princely ascetic in the forest visited by ladies (c. 1760): Art, History and Details

Princely ascetic in the forest visited by ladies (c. 1760) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

At first glance a group of court women has gathered to visit a prince who abandoned the palace to practice yoga, as indicated by the strap around the knees of the figure seated at the right. Upon close inspection, however, the prince is being “played” by a woman dressed for the part. All the components of a pleasurable courtly Mughal gathering are present. A sumptuous carpet, bottles of alcohol, fruit, a hookah, breath-freshening paan, and a woman playing a vina have been set up in the forest as if in the palace.

Object facts

• Title: Princely ascetic in the forest visited by ladies
• Date: c. 1760
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 32.7 x 26.5 cm (12 7/8 x 10 7/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1971.95

A detail from the museum

Hennaed fingers and jeweled anklets confirm that this prince is a woman.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

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.