- Title
- The Lovers Elope: Folio from the Wellington Album
- Date Made
- circa 1800
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 10 7/8 × 7 3/4 in. (27.62 × 19.69 cm)
Sheet: 17 × 12 1/2 in. (43.18 × 31.75 cm)
Frame: 20 3/4 × 16 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (52.71 × 41.28 × 3.18 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2013.178
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This pristine painting belonged to a dispersed album acquired in circa 1800 by Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), during his military service in India from 1797 to 1805, when his brother, Lord Wellesley, was Governor General. The paintings in the Wellington Album are distinguished by their fine quality and remarkably pristine condition, which was made possible by their leaving the harsh climate of India almost immediately after their creation and subsequently remaining in the Wellington collection until being sold at auction in 1991 at Sotheby’s, London. The Wellington Album folios illustrate themes commonly found in Indian painting, including courtly dalliances and scenes from Persian romances, such as “Layla and Majnun” and “Farhad and Shirin.” The vibrant colors and brilliant detailing of these paintings are indicative of this period of production and exemplify the market orientation of Lucknow painting at the turn of the 19th century.
The subject of this folio from the Wellington Album is that of young lovers eloping, which was a favored subject in the primary repertoire of pictorial themes in the courtly painting of northern India. Aided by her two maidservants, the lovestruck lady daringly escapes the palace in the dead of night by climbing down a knotted rope to join her lover who waits with two swift steeds.
