A Courtesan and Her Lover Estranged by a Quarrel
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Watercolor |
| Current Location: | The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
I’d like to talk about the unique perspective in this artwork. The perspective in this painting is a traditional Rajput/Pahari miniature styles. These styles prioritise clarity and symbolic narrative over the realistic and three-dimensional perspective we used to see in typically Renaissance art in the West. Instead of lines receding to a single vanishing point on the horizon, the architecture and furniture are depicted from multiple angles simultaneously.The artist shows the inside and outside of the building at the same time, almost like looking into a dollhouse. Things aren't drawn smaller to look far away; instead, the artist puts "farther" things higher up on the page. The people are drawn large so we can see their beautiful clothes and jewelry clearly. The bright, flat colors—like the solid red and yellow—make the scene focus on the story rather than trying to create depth.