A Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed Nayikabheda

A Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed Nayikabheda

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The extensive poetic Nayikabheda literature examines the nature of romantic interactions between idealized male (nayaka) and female (nayika) types. The related paintings translate this poetry into refined visual representations that in Malwa take on formal and iconic qualities. In this work (from the same manuscript as 1979.505), the woman’s gesture of speech or exposition indicates that the two characters are engaged in conversation, as befits the sometimes classificatory nature of the Nayikabheda.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed NayikabhedaA Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed NayikabhedaA Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed NayikabhedaA Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed NayikabhedaA Heroine and Her Lover in a Pavilion: Page from a Dispersed Nayikabheda

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.