Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana (Rama's Journey)
A large portion of this composition is dominated by the episode of Vishnu’s manifestation as Trivikrama in Raja Bali’s sacrifice. Vishnu stands monumentally with his one foot on the ground and the other foot reaching to heaven where Brahma washes Vishnu’s foot with Ganges water in devotion. Raja Bali is shown giving the sacrifice to Vamana, the brahmin incarnation of Vishnu.
Colors in this work
Details
- Artist
- Unknown artist
- Date
- c. 1710
- Dimensions
- overall: height 0.2 m, width 0.382 m
- Origin
- Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar, Court of Amar Singh II (reigned 1698–1710)
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
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- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Narrative Both · 99%
The title identifies the work as folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda of a Ramayana, and the image presents multiple connected episodes with courtly figures, ritual action, and an inscription panel.
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Deities and Holy Figures Both · 99%
The catalog describes Vishnu’s manifestation as Trivikrama, Vamana, Raja Bali, and Brahma; the image visibly centers a large blue-skinned, crowned, haloed divine figure with surrounding devotional and ritual participants.
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Mythology and Religion Metadata · 99%
The work is identified as a folio from the Ramayana, an Indian religious epic, and its catalog description specifically concerns Vishnu’s manifestation and sacrificial episodes.
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Text Visual · 99%
A yellow inscription band containing dark Indic-script writing is clearly integrated along the upper edge of the painted field.
Visual Qualities
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Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 99%
Saturated red, yellow, orange, green, blue, pink, and white areas create strong chromatic contrast across the figures, borders, architecture, and landscape details.
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Highly Detailed Visual · 94%
The image includes finely rendered crowns, jewelry, patterned garments, architectural ornament, ritual implements, foliage, lotus flowers, and numerous controlled contour details.
Medium and Techniques
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Work on Paper Metadata · 99%
The recorded medium is gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper.
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Painting Metadata · 99%
The museum classifies the object as a painting and records gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper.
Time Periods
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18th Century Art Metadata · 98%
The Cleveland Museum of Art dates the work to circa 1710, within the eighteenth century.
Geographic Regions
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Indian Art Metadata · 99%
The place of origin is recorded as Northwestern India, Rajasthan, in the Rajput Kingdom of Mewar and the court of Amar Singh II.
Materials
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Gold Metadata · 98%
Gold is explicitly listed in the medium; the image also shows bright metallic-looking accents in the halo, crowns, jewelry, and costume ornament.
Source & rights
Unknown artist. Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana (Rama's Journey). Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 8,618 × 5,365 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available