Bala Krishna - 01

This is a delightful Thanjavur reverse glass painting of Bala (baby) Krishna in soft reds and browns, from the 1950s. Krishna is the god of compassion, tenderness, and love, and one of the most popular and widely revered among Indian divinities. Krishna is shown with a peacock feather in his characteristic topknot, adorned with numerous gold jewellery pieces including bracelets, anklets and necklaces. He is shown smiling at the viewer while eating ghee (butter), which he was very fond of. Krishna’s parents Yashoda and Nanda, to the left of the painting, are also smiling, perhaps because Yashoda is feeding Krishna a ball of ghee! To the right is a musician holding a veena in her hand. At the top of the pillared hall are lush red draperies with hanging glass lights.