Maharaja of Kotah Listening to Music and Watching Dancersc. 1820 · Study 2008.297

Context from the museum

In the foreground the king enjoys food, wine, and a dance performance with his companions on the terrace of a palace residence. His hunting lodge is on the opposite bank of the river. Deer, wild boar, and the coveted tiger roam the forested wilderness. Rulers of the princely state of Kota adopted many architectural and costume elements from their overlords, the Mughal emperors. The mix of white marble and pink sandstone with rooftop pavilions and niches in the walls are typical of domestic architecture under the Mughals of India. By the early 1800s, Indian artists adopted an interest in conveying a sense of receding space from European paintings. This painter has convincingly rendered the space of the room behind the king, featuring a door to an inner bedchamber.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected image measurement for Maharaja of Kotah Listening to Music and Watching Dancers is 25.3 cm wide and 33.3 cm high, equivalent to approximately 10.0 × 13.1 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.76:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.08 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 8.4% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 137.3 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Maharaja of Kotah Listening to Music and Watching Dancers in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 25.3 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?