Priests before Shri Nathji

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The temple at Nathdvara, north of Udaipur in Rajasthan, houses an image of Krishna from Mathura, a town near the birthplace of the god. Its priests feared the extreme Muslim orthodoxy of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and intended to take the sculpture to Udaipur, the capital of Mewar. However, the cart bearing it got stuck in the mud at Nathdvara—a mishap that was taken as a divine sign. In this painting, an image of the deity is seen twice: once at the top center, flanked by priests, and below, in miniature form, rocked in a cradle by four holy men.

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