Sindhu Raga (c. 1720): Art, History and Details
Sindhu Raga at the Cleveland Museum of Art: c. 1720, Gum tempera and ink on paper. Explore the work's context, creator attribution and collection history.
Sindhu Raga (c. 1720) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.
The work and its context
The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:
The inscription at the top identifies this painting as Sindhu Raga, which is the raga (or musical mode) of heroic sentiment. The painting is meant to elicit the same feelings in the viewer as a rousing piece of music played in the Sindhu key. Paintings of Sindhu Raga depict battle scenes. In this example, the composition conveys the chaotic melee and violence of war. Heads are being lopped off; carrion birds swoop down unfazed. Above the horizon against the sky at the far right is the god of war, Karttikeya, in his chariot. Three angels carry garlands for the dead.
Object facts
- Title: Sindhu Raga
- Date: c. 1720
- Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar
- Type: Painting
- Technique: Gum tempera and ink on paper
- Dimensions: Overall: 48.1 x 27.9 cm (18 15/16 x 11 in.)
- Collection: Indian Art
- Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Accession number: 2004.110
A detail from the museum
Most of the warriors are on horseback and are armed with bows and arrows, swords, lances, and shields, as well as rifles. Two elephants appear in the foreground.
Collection credit
Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski
Further reading listed by the museum
- Lee, Sherman E. and George Montgomery. Rajput Painting; with an introductory essay and catalogue notes. New York: Asia House, 1960.
- Gangoly, O. C. [Ordhendra Coomar]. Rāgas & Rāginīs: A Pictorial & Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources. Calcutta: Kumar Printers, 1966.
- Czuma, Stanislaw J. Indian Art from the George P. Bickford Collection: Catalog. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975.
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.
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