Page 165 - Eye of the beholder

“bani-Thani” - - The decked uP lady
The sinuous eyes the the the the the stretched upper body the the the the the aquiline nose - these are the the the the the hallmarks of the the the the the Kishangarh school of Indian miniature painting painting that blossomed in in in in in in in the mid 18th century The paintings are reminiscent of of the the the mannerist school of of art in Europe which existed also at the the the same time and was characterized by the the the abnormally elongated necks and straight-jacketed appearance Kishangarh was a a a a a a a a a a small princely state in in in in Rajasthan founded in in in in 1609 by Kishan Kishan Singh The oeuvre of this school is therefore not very voluminous The excessively stylized idiom came into being only in in in in the the mid 18th century during the the reign of Maharaja Sawant Singh and and is therefore even rarer Though collectors and and viewers relish these works very few are inquisitive about the the genesis of this style Maharaja Sawant Singh in in in particular and the Kishangarh royal family in in in general were devout Vaishnavs of the the the the Vallabhachaya sect- worshippers of Krishna Music was patronized in the the the the court and the the the the queen mother had a a a a a a a a a a a a young pretty handmaid called Vishnupriya who also excelled at at at singing Sawant Singh’s infatuation with Vishnupriya soon reached such levels that she graduated from being a a a a a a a a a a handmaid to an an an important mistress to one of of of the the chief queens in a a a a a a a remarkably short span of of of time Because of of of the the ostentatious manner in which she she decked herself she she was popularly known as as “Bani-Thani” - - well turned out Bani-Thani and and Maharaja Sawant Singh sang together and and composed poetry - - she under the the pen name of of of Rasikbihari and and he he he under the the name of of of Nagari Das Nihal Chand - the the chief court painter of of of Kishangarh introduced a a a a a a a a a new stylized idiom in in in in in the court paintings to depict Bani-Thani and Sawant Singh as Krishna and Radha It is is widely believed that the the the facial features of of of the the the main characters of of of the the the paintings of of of this era are modeled on on those of Bani-Thani making her her important and her her paintings desirable for generations to come worldwide 159