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The "(second) Guler Gita Govinda" is one of the greatest and most important series of Indian paintings of the late 18th century. It visualizes the story of the Hindu god Krishna and the cowherdess Radha, citing verses of the Gita Govinda in inscriptions on the reverse of the paintings. The story of Radha and Krishna was originally composed by Jayadeva in the 12th century and became one of the most important poems describing the relationship between devotees and god.
The "(second) Guler Gita Govinda" series consisted probably of 151 paintings. Besides numerous finished paintings, a whole range of drawings has also been passed down. Whereas some of them may be lost forever the rest is spread all over the world. The current project explores the connection of visual and textual tradition. After a preliminary research of extant paintings and drawings in public and private collection, an analysis of the inscriptions and the paintings themselves leads to a reconstruction of the chronology of the series. Finally the narrative density and visual rhythm of storytelling is determined by a synopsis of pictorial and textual evidence.
Caroline Widmer
Prof. Dr. Monica Juneja
Chair of Global Art History
Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context"
University of Heidelberg
Karl Jaspers Centre for Advanced Transcultural Studies
Voßstrasse 2, Geb. 4400
D-69115 Heidelberg
Dr. Jorrit Britschgi
Kurator für Indische Malerei
Museum Rietberg Zürich
Gablerstrasse 15
8002 Zürich
SNF (Personen- und Projektförderung)
SNF Early Postdoc Mobility
Sept 2014 – Dez 2018
Gitagovinda, Indian painting, Pahari painting, religious storytelling, visible religion, visual culture
