Radha and Krishna

It is spring and bees swarm. On the left Radha, the beloved of the god Krishna (seen on the right), is told about his dalliance with the gopis (cow-girls).

The picture is one of a series illustrating the Gita Govinda, which tells the story of Krishna’s youth. This series was commissioned for a lady patron, probably named Malini, in 1730. Manaku was one of an influential family of artists from Guler, also in the Punjab Hills, and the family worked at various courts in the region. His younger brother was the well-known artist Nainsukh.

In this painting, iridescent green beetle wing-case fragments were used to represent jewels.