Indian and Himalayan Art Nata Ragini (A Horseman Battles Foot Soldiers) c. 1650-60 Artist/maker unknown, India Opaque watercolor with gold on paper Currently not on view 1987-52-3 Gift of Stella Kramrisch, 1987 |
LabelNata raga is most often shown as a furious battle in which a soldier on horseback lops off the head of a foot soldier. Here a mounted figure (who, oddly, wears a short blouse and may be meant as a woman) is set against a bright red ground with a white, arched horizon separating it from the pure black sky. A foot soldier cowers from the upraised sword. Beneath the horse's hoofs lies a recently slain corpse; parts of its body and the blood gushing from its severed neck break into the yellow border, a space originally reserved for text. |
