Krishna and Balarama Fight the Evil King Kamsa’s Wrestlers: Page from a Dispersed Bhagavata Purana

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kamsa sent Canura and Mushthika, two mountainlike wrestlers who had limbs as strong as lightning, to confront the youthful Krishna and Balarama. The climactic moment is statically presented with great formal drama. Such scenes of conflict serve as metaphors for Krishna’s destruction of corruption. The deep brown background and brightly lit action set against a night sky are typical of the fully developed Malwa aesthetic. (This page is from the same manuscript as 1974.116.)

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art