- Title
- Forlorn Heroine (Proshitapriyatama), Nayika Painting Appended to a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)
- Date Made
- circa 1625
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, metallic paint, and ink on paper; varnish
- Dimensions
- 7 1/16 x 5 5/8 in. (18 x 14.28 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.73.2.4
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This series of paintings (M.73.2.3-.10) was most likely commissioned by King Jagajyotimalla of Bhaktapur (r. 1613-1637). They represent the expansion into Nepal of a very old Indian poetic tradition that explores the subtle nuances of the changing emotional relationships between men and women through poetic depictions of heroines (nayika) and heroes (nayaka). The theme of men and women in different amorous situations and their resultant emotions was often conjoined with ragamala (Garland of Melodies) imagery. These Nepali nayika paintings were modeled upon Indian prototypes. The heroes and heroines wear contemporary northern Indian Rajput clothing and jewelry, but the Nepalese artist has introduced local architectural elements and furnishings. Other Nepalese conventions are the elaborate stylized curtain above most of the heroines and the use of a multicolored lotus pedestal in the foreground of all the pictures. In the header, a Sanskrit verse from the poetry of Bharata (active first century CE [?]) describes the nayika illustrated. This group of nayika paintings was once appended to a ragamala album now in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena (various accession numbers; covers acquired in 1973, folios acquired in 1978-1979). See Pratapaditya Pal, Art from the Himalayas & China (New Haven and London: Yale University Press in association with Pasadena: Norton Simon Art Foundation, 2003), pp. 222-257, nos. 148-185.
This painting depicts the Forlorn Heroine (Proshitapriyatama).
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Nepal. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1985.
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Nepal: Where the Gods are Young. New York: Asia House Gallery, 1975.
