Picchvai / Artist Unknown, India

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Record Details

Accession Number
2008/2.289
Title
Picchvai
Artist Nationality
Indian
Object Creation Date
1700-1850
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
India (nation)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
India (nation)
Dimensions
198.76 cm x 148.59 cm (78 1/4 in. x 58 1/2 in.)
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
ink painting
Secondary Object Classification
Painting
Secondary Object Type
narrative painting
Physical Description
The piece portrays a central god, with many milkmaids surrounding him. There are louts flowers present, as well as hills and buildings at the top of the painting. There are also various incarnations of gods, which are the blue-skinned figures.
Subject Matter
Shri Nathi, an incarnation of Krishna particularly worshipped by cow-herding communities, is at center. Vallahachari brahmins and devotees perform puja. In other areas Krishna teases the gopis and herds cows.
(Christies, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, Friday 21 September 200--see object file)
Picchvai, painted devotional hangings, are often commissioned for a public temple or private or portable shrines. They represent scenes from the life of the Hindu deity Krishna (always depicted as blue) and are commonly used as a backdrop for the display of statues of this god. Here, the scene depicted shows Krishna and his friends negotiating with gopis (cow-herding girls) while traveling on Mount Govardhan; in exchange for protection, they demand a toll of curds and milk from the gopis who wish to pass. Some scholars who have studied Picchvai have drawn parallels between the repetitive patterning of the groups of figures in this visual composition and the metric system of the short poems of the period.
Primary Keywords
cowherds
cows
goddesses
krishna
lotus
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Technical Details

Record
2008/2.289
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2008-sl-2.289/ri_go2008_47_2.jpg

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"Picchvai; Artist Unknown, India." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2008-sl-2.289/ri_go2008_47_2.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
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