2-722-162 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A page from a Rasikapriya series, c. 1660. The hero of this romantic poetic series is shown in the guise of Krishna, with blue skin, yellow lower garment, and a crown with peacock feathers. In the lower right he sits on a throne under a splendid weeping ashoka tree in a grove with palm and cypress, on the banks of a river lined with lotus petals. A love nest made of flower petals with golden pots of water is ready to shield the couple. At the left, a goddess of erotic love aims a lotus arrow straight at the hero’s heart. His beloved, unsure whether she should meet him, confers with her confidante in the house above, while another secret enclosure stands empty.