Radha and Krishna meet in the forest during a storm (c. 1770): Art, History and Details

Radha and Krishna meet in the forest during a storm (c. 1770) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This painting depicts the Hindu deity Krishna as a youth among the villagers of the cowherding community where he grew up. Drawn to him, the women hurry to hold a coverlet over him in protection from the rain, not realizing that he is able to lift a mountain to shield them all. Birds and monkeys populate the trees, and a Hindu temple and palace buildings stand in the background. This vibrant work was probably made for an aristocratic Hindu ruler of territories in eastern India during the period when Mughal artists dispersed from the imperial center after the invasion of Delhi in 1739.

Object facts

• Title: Radha and Krishna meet in the forest during a storm
• Date: c. 1770
• Culture: India, Bengal, Mughal, 18th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 26.1 x 37.4 cm (10 1/4 x 14 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art - Mughal
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2013.352

A detail from the museum

The belly of the white cow has been colored orange with henna.

Collection credit

Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

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.