TWO ILLUSTRATIONS: MAHARANA PRATAP SINGH ON A REARING STALLION; A BUNDI NOBLEMAN ON HORSEBACK

Dressed in a brilliant crimson jama with bejeweled golden pagri (cap) Maharana Pratap Singh is attended by a ceremonial chowrie bearer. He touches his pearl necklace carrying a book tucked beneath his forearm, his left hand raised with palm open. A golden sword hilt or katar dagger and a quiver of arrows are slightly visible beneath his red robe. His golden patka sash visually forming a striking vertical abstraction against the glowing verdigris background. A vibrant trimmed fragment of a once larger composition. As Cary Welch quoted Auguste Rodin, “That which is more beautiful than a beautiful thing is the ruin of a beautiful thing.”