A large illustration of Vishnu as Venkateshwara, South India, Andhra Pradesh, probably Tirupati, early 18th century

Acquired from Francesca Galloway, London, March 2000

Venkateshwara is considered to be an avatar of the Hindu god, Vishnu, and is the presiding deity of the Venkateshwara temple at the holy centre of Tirupati in South India. Here he is depicted bedecked in golden ornaments, standing under a golden arch festooned with jasmine and lotus flowers directly under a kirtimukha, flanked by devotees on either side. The figure of Venkateshwara in the present example is closely comparable with an illustration of Venkateshwara playing a game of dice with an ascetic named Hathiram Baba, also painted in the early eighteenth century in Andhra Pradesh, sold in these rooms, 24 April 2024, lot 175. Another comparable double-sided illustration attributed to Tirupati and dated to the same period, depicting Vishnu standing under a golden arch with a kirtimukha, is in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (S1998.113).