2-722-117 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Lady with Attendant and a Pair of Deer, probably Gujari Ragini of Dipak, from a Pahari Ragamala, 1710-20. Half of the heroine’s body is directed toward her handmaiden playing a stringed instrument known as a vina to her left, and the other half toward the deer at her right. She extends one hand to fondle the male under his chin. All three gaze at her in rapt devotion. Her loose hair and light muslin garment indicate that she has recently bathed outdoors, when she was interrupted by the arrival of the deer. This scene is intended to evoke feelings of awe in the viewer: the heroine’s beauty is such that even wild animals are drawn to her as a couple. This page is from a series in which each painting is meant to inspire an emotional response that correlates with feelings elicited by musical compositions played in the mode, or key, of the same name.