Creative Commons License
Erotic Scene
(India, Nepal, and Tibet)
A man and woman make love in a pavilion, framed for the viewer’s gaze by an open wall. Enhancing the sensual mood of the painting are numerous motifs with erotic overtones in classical Indian poetry and aesthetics. A flowering vine entwines the tree outside the chamber, like a woman clinging to her beloved. The dark background signals nighttime, ideal for a secret rendezvous. The peacock is associated with the monsoon season, a favorable time of year for lovers, since heavy rains restrict the travel that might otherwise separate them. Here, the peacock lifts its head in a cry, adding to the sound of the woman’s jingling anklets—another trope in erotic poetry.
A space at the top of the page was reserved for text (never filled in) to describe the scene below. Other paintings of the same style and format suggest that this folio belonged to a series illustrating erotic positions.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 2001, by gift.
Exhibitions
| 2001-2003 | Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. |
Geographies
India, Madhya Pradesh, Malwa (Place of Origin)
Measurements
8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. (21 x 15.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2001
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
W.871