Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Location History:
The Ashmolean Museum specifically records Udaipur as the place of creation. The painting was produced in 1629 for the Mewar court during the reign of Maharana Jagat Singh I (1628–1652).
A 1629 miniature painting from the Mewar school, attributed to Sahibdin—one of the principal painters linked with the court of Udaipur—shows scenes of Krishna, Radha and her companion, and the poet Jayadeva. This painting depicts episodes from the Gitagovinda, a renowned 12th-century Sanskrit poem written by Jayadeva and which tells the story of the passionate relationship between the Hindu god Krishna and Radha, his beloved. The Ashmolean has identified this painting as part of a set that had been dispersed and which was Sahibdin's very first commission when he was appointed as court painter to Maharana Jagat Singh I of Udaipur.
The painting includes a number of successive scenes from the story all within the same visual space. Radha tells her female companion, or sakhi, about her meetings with Krishna. In the painting Krishna is seen having a conversation with Radha, embracing her and decorating her braided hair with flowers. A strange feature of the narrative is that it implies Krishna might be mistaking Radha for her companion, with whom he is at that moment in love. At the lower part of the picture Jayadeva is shown reciting his verses while playing the cymbals, thus directly connecting the visual image with its literary origin.
The painting shows off Sahibdin's early mature style, especially his skill in turning poetry into a sequence of linked visual scenes; the way it combines human figures, narrative action and a decorative landscape is in keeping with the particular storytelling tradition of Mewar miniature painting.
A 1629 miniature painting from the Mewar school, attributed to Sahibdin, one of the leading painters associated with the court of Udaipur, depicts scenes of Krishna, Radha and her companion and the poet Jayadeva, who gave the world the Gitagovinda, the 12th century Sanskrit poem recounting the love story of the Hindu god Krishna and his beloved Radha. The Ashmolean believes that this painting belongs to a series that was dispersed and that was Sahibdin’s very first commission when he was appointed as court painter to Maharana Jagat Singh I of Udaipur. The painting portrays a number of successive scenes of the story in the same picture. Radha recounts to her female companion or sakhi the episodes in her meetings with Krishna. In the picture Krishna is seen conversing with Radha, embracing and decorating her braided hair with flowers. An odd feature of the narrative is that it suggests that Krishna might be confusing Radha for her companion, whom he is at that moment in love with. At the lower part of the picture Jayadeva is shown reciting his verses while playing the cymbals, thus directly associating the visual image with its literary source. The painting displays the early maturity of Sahibdin’s style, particularly his skill at transforming poetry into a sequence of linked visual scenes; the way it combines human figures, narrative action and a decorative landscape is in line with the particular storytelling tradition of Mewar miniature painting.
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By: Sayani Das
This 1629 Mewar miniature by Sahibdin is a profound visual synthesis of devotions, human affection, and artistic creation, translating Jayadeva’s *Gitagovinda* into a fluid, multi-temporal narrative. By collapsing successive moments into a single, vibrant landscape, the painting represents the multi-faceted nature of love—ranging from the intimate exchanges between Radha and Krishna to the delicate confusion of romantic desire. Krishna’s dynamic interactions with Radha and her *sakhi* reflect the poem’s exploration of longing, misidentification, and divine play (*lila*), suggesting that love is both a sensory experience and a spiritual illusion. Crucially, depicting Jayadeva performing at the base bridges the earthly act of poetic devotion with the divine realm above. The artwork Ultimately conveys that divine love is not static; it is an unfolding harmony sustained by storytelling, music, and visual art, where the creator and the divine intimately co-exist within the same sacred space.
