Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.358

c6.358

Bhāgavata Daśamaskandha. The last folio of a manuscript of the Bhāgavata Daśamaskandha, representing Krishna playing on the flute, is in the collection of His Vrajabhūṣhanlālji of Kānkroli.⁵⁰ Both in the colour scheme and the treatment of coiffure and ornaments, this miniature lines up with the old Western Indian traditions. The one notable feature, however, is the absence of the farther eye protruding beyond the facial line. The absence of this characteristic Western Indian feature shows that the manuscript belongs to the transitional period when the three-quarter view of the face was giving place to strict profile. The probable date of this painting is the middle of the 16th century, or even later. The Jodhpur illustrated manuscript of the Daśama-skandha with Śrīdhara’s Bhāvārtha commentary written in old Gujarātī, which explains the content of every picture, is dated 1610 A.D., and records the name of the painter as Govinda, the son of Nārada.⁵¹