Artwork
Varadhana Raga
Varadhana Raga is a paint painting by the Baroque artist Unknown. It dates from 1700 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created around 1700, this opaque watercolor on paper portrays a princely figure mounting a white horse while a woman in a vivid orange dress stands nearby. The composition is part of a Ragamala series that visualizes the Indian musical mode known as Varadhana Raga, linking visual narrative with a specific melodic structure.
Subject & Meaning
The central male figure, dressed in yellow and crowned with a feathered headdress, embodies the heroic or regal aspect associated with the raga, while the attendant lady, adorned in a patterned orange garment, provides a complementary presence. Together they suggest the ceremonial or celebratory mood traditionally evoked by the Varadhana melodic mode.
Technique & Style
Executed in opaque watercolor, the artist employs bold, saturated pigments—dominant reds, deep blues, and bright oranges—to delineate figures against a relatively plain backdrop. Decorative details appear in the woman's dress pattern and the horse's ornate tack, while the use of flat color fields and stylized forms reflects the aesthetic conventions of early eighteenth‑century Indian court painting.
History & Provenance
The work originates from the early eighteenth century, a period when Ragamala paintings were popular in the courts of northern India. Though its precise ownership trail is not fully documented, the piece is representative of the broader corpus of ragamala illustrations that circulated among aristocratic patrons and later entered museum collections worldwide.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
Giacomo and Cardinal Marco, investing Andrea, Abbot of San Zeno, with his Benefice
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
