anonymous
Sati (the practice of burning widows)
Can I see it?
Unknown
Where is “Sati (the practice of burning widows)” now? Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Unknown.
Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Sati, ‘the virtuous’ in Sanskrit, refers to a custom whereby a widow is burned on the funeral pyre along with the body of her deceased husband. The life of a widow was unimaginably hard and a sati conferred status and fame on her family. British colonisers banned the ritual in 1829. Made for a European client, this painting probably belonged to a set of illustrations of ‘Indian customs.’
Rijksmuseum
Details
- Accession number
- RP-T-1993-244
In the catalog
Sources
- Rijksmuseum
- Image: Rijksmuseum — public domain
