{"product_id":"2940015723304","title":"THE LOVES OF KRISHNA IN INDIAN PAINTING \u0026 POETRY","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  I INTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e II THE MAHABHARATA: KRISHNA THE HERO\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIII THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: THE COWHERD\u003cbr\u003e      i  Birth and Early Adventures\u003cbr\u003e     ii  The Loves of the Cowgirls\u003cbr\u003e    iii  The Death of the Tyrant\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e IV THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: THE PRINCE\u003cbr\u003e      i  The Return to Court\u003cbr\u003e     ii  Marriages and Offspring\u003cbr\u003e    iii  Last Phases\u003cbr\u003e     iv  The _Purana_ Re-considered\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  V THE KRISHNA OF POETRY\u003cbr\u003e      i  The Triumph of Radha\u003cbr\u003e     ii  The _Gita Govinda_\u003cbr\u003e    iii  Later Poetry\u003cbr\u003e     iv  The _Rasika Priya_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e VI THE KRISHNA OF PAINTING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    NOTES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    BIBLIOGRAPHY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    INDEX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    PLATES AND COMMENTARY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    SOURCES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the twentieth century, a certain type of Indian painting began to\u003cbr\u003efascinate the West. Unlike Mughal art, it was a product of Hindu courts in\u003cbr\u003eRajasthan and the Punjab Hills and unlike Mughal painting, its chief\u003cbr\u003econcern was with the varied phases of romance. Ladies would be shown\u003cbr\u003ebrooding in their chambers as storm clouds mounted in the sky. A girl\u003cbr\u003emight be portrayed desperately fondling a plantain tree, gripping a pet\u003cbr\u003efalcon, the symbol of her lover, or hurrying through the rainy darkness\u003cbr\u003eintent only on reaching a longed-for tryst. A prince would appear lying on\u003cbr\u003ea terrace, his outstretched arms striving vainly to detain a calm beauty\u003cbr\u003eor welcoming with delight a bashful girl as she slowly advanced. In all\u003cbr\u003ethese pictures, romantic love was treated as the highest good and physical\u003cbr\u003epassion was interpreted with a freshness and innocence unequalled in the\u003cbr\u003eworld's art.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuch paintings were, at first sight, easy to appreciate. Although they\u003cbr\u003ealternated between two methods of expression--the first a style of savage\u003cbr\u003edistortion, the second a style of the softest grace--each manner enlivened\u003cbr\u003ethe common subject.[1] Yet in two respects elucidation was vitally\u003cbr\u003enecessary. Just as in Japan, the lover might express his longings by\u003cbr\u003ecryptic references to Nature, the Indian artist employed poetic symbols to\u003cbr\u003echarge his subjects with romantic ardour. Flowers were never merely\u003cbr\u003eflowers nor clouds clouds. The symbols of Indian poetry--the lotus swaying\u003cbr\u003ein a stream, the flowering creeper embracing a trunk--were intended to\u003cbr\u003esuggest passion-haunted ladies. The mingling of clouds, rain and lightning\u003cbr\u003esymbolized the embraces of lovers, and commonplace objects such as dishes,\u003cbr\u003evases, ewers and lamps were brought into subtle conjunction to hint at\u003cbr\u003e'the right true end of love.' What, in fact, might seem at first sight to\u003cbr\u003ebe a simple portrait, proved on closer understanding to be a study in\u003cbr\u003edespair, a revelation of delight or a clue to rapture, each image with its\u003cbr\u003esexual implications contriving to express some nuance of longing. In these\u003cbr\u003epictures, only a part of the meaning was apparent and without a\u003cbr\u003ecomprehension of the poetry, much of its true significance was lost.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147836604656,"sku":"2940015723304","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015723304","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}