The Lotus Reaper

This portrait is painted in the typical style of the Kishangarh school of Indian miniature painting. Kishangarh itself is a small town in Rajasthan, approx. one hundred kms. from Jaipur.

She is portrayed here with an elongated face, arched eyebrows, lotus-like eyes tinged with pink, a sharp nose and a pointed chin. Obviously, it is an idealization, for no woman would have such eyes. here we notice a resemblance with the technique of the Kangra painters. It is not the beauty of a single person, but the ideal beauty which the artist paints. It is based on the ideal type given in the Sanskrit love poetry, viz. 'Padmakshi' or lotus-eyed. It represents the Rajput ideal of feminine beauty at its best. Her face is delicate and refined. Her eyebrows are curved like a bow. Her face is framed in cleverly arranged curls of ebony hair. Her neck is decorated with necklaces of pearls and precious stones. She has draped herself in a transparent gold-embroidered wrap whcih greatly enhances her charm. Which woman of today would not envy her dreamy eyes, her shapely nose, her fastidious lips, the glamour of her clothes and ornaments, and, above all, her seductive charm?

In the background can be buildings, built in styles reminiscent of ancient Rajput architecture. The reverse of this painting is manually inscribed with Urdu calligraphy.

This painting is from the atelier of Shri Kailash Raj, Jaipur.