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The Hero Who Loves Another Man's Wife

The Hero Who Loves Another Man's Wife

(active about 1660–1690)
1660–70
Object PlaceBasohli or Nurpur, Punjab Hills, Northern India
Medium/TechniqueOpaque watercolor, silver, gold, and beetle wing on paper
DimensionsOverall: 23.5 x 32.8cm (9 1/4 x 12 15/16in.)
Other (Without borders): 17.8 x 26.8cm (7 x 10 9/16in.)
Credit LineRoss-Coomaraswamy Collection
Accession number17.2781
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPaintings
Collections
InscriptionsObverse: at top, in Devanagari, short inscription (to be read) and on margin "102". Reverse: at top, in Devanagari, two lines: "Fear of detection does not permit the eager lovers' gaze to meet. Scared of the jingling sound of the armlets, they desist from embracing. They kiss each other's lips without the contact of their teeth. Their union is hushed, too. Such a love is indeed empty of joy." 102
ProvenanceBy 1916, purchased in India by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (b. 1887 - d. 1947); 1917, sold by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy to Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA; 1917, given by Denman Waldo Ross to the MFA. (Accession date: April 5, 1917)