Plate 29
Radha and Krishna making Love
Illustration to the Sursagar of Sur Das
Udaipur, Rajasthan, c. 1650
G.K. Kanoria collection, Calcutta
Like Plate 28, an illustration to a Hindi poem analysing Krishna’s conduct as ideal lover.
Krishna is here embracing Radha while outside two of Radha’s friends await the outcome. Above them, two girls are watching peacocks—the strained advances of the birds and the ardent gazes of the girls hinting at the tense encounter proceeding in the room below.
The Udaipur style of painting with its vehement figures, geometrical compositions and brilliant colouring was admirably suited to interpreting scenes of romantic violence.