Woman Addressing a Peacock: Gujari Ragini of Megh, from a Ragamala (c. 1680): Art, History and Details

Woman Addressing a Peacock: Gujari Ragini of Megh, from a Ragamala (c. 1680) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Gujari Ragini, a musical mode, is personified as the one who sings songs praising her beloved on experiencing pangs of separation. She sits on a throne outside a well-appointed chamber and holds her stringed instrument, the vina, in her right hand. Her songs have attracted a male peacock who dances to the tunes she sings. A pair of yellow birds take flight in the background.

Object facts

• Title: Woman Addressing a Peacock: Gujari Ragini of Megh, from a Ragamala
• Date: c. 1680
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bundi or Raghogarh
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 31.2 x 24.8 cm (12 5/16 x 9 3/4 in.); Miniature: 24.2 x 17.8 cm (9 1/2 x 7 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.159

A detail from the museum

The heroine presents her pearl necklace to the peacock.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase 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.