AN ASCETIC WITH HIS LOVER ON A BED, MEWAR, UDAIPUR, CIRCA 1740-50

The Sven Gahlin Collection, acquired in 1967 

Edward Suren, London

Nawab Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, Nizam of Hyderabad (r.1911-50) 

Mewar Royal Collection (inventory numbers on the verso)

While erotic scenes are far from rare in Rajasthani painting and drawing, the scene of an ascetic in an erotic embrace is very unusual, and the present example might possibly be the only known painting of this subject. In the present miniature the female is turning away in a pose that is often seen in illustrations to romantic literary texts or Ragamalas.

A Mewar painting of the same period, ascribed to Syaji, depicts Maharana Jagat Singh II (r.1734-51) holding a feast for a very large group of similarly naked and white-stained yogis, devotees of Siva (see J. Seyller in Philadelphia 2001, pp.150-1, no.61). The large congregation of naked sadhus in Udaipur at this time may have inspired the present artist’s subject matter, and the apparent incongruity of a large gathering of abstemious yogis feasting with the Maharana is also perhaps related to the incongruity of the present scene.