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Leaf from a Kalighat album: Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Cowgirls (Gopis) (recto); Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In the image on the recto taken from both popular accounts and the Bhagavata Purana , Krishna has stolen the clothes of cowgirls ( gopis ) who are bathing in the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges River. He refuses to return their clothes, the purple saris seen hanging high in the tree, until they come out and bow to him with folded palms. Krishna, a cowherder, is holding a flute, which he uses to lure them away.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineLeaf from a Kalighat album: Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Cowgirls (Gopis) (recto); Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso), c. 1890. Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat. Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper; Woodcut, hand colored with gum tempera; secondary support: 48.5 x 29.9 cm (19 1/8 x 11 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward, 2003.114
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