An Illustration from the Bhagavata Purana: Krishna and Balarama jump to safety from Mount Gomanta

Acquired 1970's

Fairly good overall condition. Red folio border abraded in places. Crease to right edge and upper and lower right corners of the folio with tear to the upper left corner. Small crease on the lower center area of the image just above the folio border. Inscriptions in Devanagari on the folio. Unframed.
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The present and following illustrations are from a dispersed Bhagavata Purana series. 

The present lot depicts the story of Krishna and Mountain Gomanta, related in the sixteenth chapter of the epic.  According to myth, Krishna and his brother Balarama were pursued by their archrival King Jarasandha of Magadha and sought refuge in the wild forest of the Mountain Gomanta. Jarasandha's men set fire to the forest in an effort to flush them out of their leafy hideout but the brothers jumped to safety on the other side of the high mountain and eventually returned and defeated their enemy.

The painting is noteworthy for its heightened sense of drama as we see the animals of the forest fleeing for safety from the raging fire while the smoke from the flames forms a swirling canopy over the mountain top.

Related leaves are in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum; see Maggs Bros. Ltd., Bulletin No. 7, no.174, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; see Pratapaditya Pal, Art of Nepal, Los Angeles, 1985, p.228; and the Binney Collection, see W. G. Archer, Rajput Miniatures from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, Portland, 1969, p. 64.