Painting

Ascetics renounce worldly pleasures and seek a solitary life outside society. This figure is seated in the closed posture of a yogi and is depicted with his few possessions. The tiger skin, the small bowl to collect alms and the dog are all associated with the Hindu god Shiva, the supreme ascetic. This painting once belonged to William Fullerton, a British surgeon based in Murshidabad from 1744 to about 1766.