This portrait is painted in the typical style of the Kishangarh school of Indian miniature painting. Kishangarh itself is a small town in Rajasthan, approx. one hundred kms. from Jaipur.The lady in this portrait is Bani Thani, and has an interesting story behind her:
King Sawant Singh (1748-1764), the seventh ruler of Kishangarh, was an accomplished poet and artist in his own right. It so transpired that his stepmother employed a young girl as a singer in her palace. She came to the notice of Sawant Singh who fell in love with her. Her real name is not known, but she came to be called Bani Thani, which means smart and well-dressed. She was a beautiful girl who also professed interest in Hindi poetry. She became Sawant Singh's mistress. It is conjectured that the bloom of her youth and beauty not only roused unholy thoughts in the hearts of men who saw her, but also provided inspiration to the Kishangarh artists to whom credit is given for the invention of the Kishangarh facial formula.
Bani Thani here is portrayed with an elongated face, arched eyebrows, lotus-like eyes tinged with pink, a sharp nose and a pointed chin. Obviously, it is an idealization, for no woman would have such eyes, here we notice a resemblance with the technique of the Kangra painters. It is not the beauty of a single person, but the ideal beauty which the artist paints. It is based on the ideal type given in the Sanskrit love poetry, viz. 'Padmakshi' or lotus-eyed. It represents the Rajput ideal of feminine beauty at its best. Those who delight in parallels call her the Indian Mona Lisa. Her face is delicate and refined, more like that of a courtesan. Her eyebrows are curved like a bow. Her neck is decorated with necklaces of pearls and precious stones. She has draped herself in a transparent wrap which greatly enhances her charm. Which woman of today would not envy her dreamy eyes, her shapely nose, her fastidious lips, the glamour of her clothes and ornaments, and, above all, her seductive charm?
Dear author,
ОтветитьУдалитьI am intresting in opportunity to publish my work on some modern internet art gallery
I notice that you have information about ARt Gallery http://www.my-art-gallery.net.
If yes , may I contact you to get more info ?
Thanks in advance
Evgueny
Good day Evgueny,
ОтветитьУдалитьWe are very pleasured, that You are interested in our Art gallery. All information about this project you can find on gallery’s site www.my-art-gallery.net or you can contact with us sending a privet e-mail or calling at our Office in Riga:
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Best regards,
Viktorija
Dear Viktorija T....Allow me to post a poem I wrote, inspired by the painting you have posted here...
ОтветитьУдалить_________________________________________________________
when I saw Bani Thani, when I heard her sing
by Raj Arumugam
O Bani Thani
I grow thin, wanting you;
O you of the drooping eyes and long neck
O Bani Thani, O sublime poetess and singer
who walks gracefully through the halls of Kishangarh
I hear
you are in my stepmother’s service;
and the songs you sing
though they are most sublime
they lure me into unholy thoughts, O Bani Thani
as do your drooping eyes, your lips curved into a smile
You walk head high always, they say
and you look directly ahead even when I am nigh
and yet that too invites me to wander over the landscape of your face
your drooping eyes, your drooping eyes
the eyebrow like a bow, the bow of Rajput warriors
whose arrows pierce with vigour
the elongated face, O Bani Thani
your elongated face and nose and curls of hair
that flow to your waist
and that visage and seduction all graced in muslin odhni
O Bani Thani
I hear your voice, I hear your songs
and your poems are recited here by the men even in the streets –
O but do you hear mine, do you hear my poems of
love, lust and thoughts unholy?
O do you hear my poems of pain and longing? –
all arising, all arising, O Bani Thani
everything in my manhood aroused
as I see you walk by, as I hear you sing
as I hear you play on your instruments
O Bani Thani, Bani Thani –
sing to me, sing to me:
What is my end, what is my fate
in this my love and longing for you?