Festival Banner Showing Krishna Rescuing and Marrying Rukmini

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This banner was likely used in an annual festival commemorating Krishna’s marriage to his first wife, Rukmini, that is still celebrated today in parts of the Himalayan foothills. As the work was shown only periodically, the colors remain vivid. The brilliant hues were produced from vegetable dyes: red derived from cochineal and lac insects, blue and green from indigo plants, and orange from safflower. In contrast, the silk threads, which were bleached white or etched with mordant to enable black coloring to bond to the fibers, have disintegrated, making it possible to see the underdrawing. Painted in henna with details created in carbon black, the preparatory sketch served as the guide for the final embroidery. This technique is similar to that used to make preliminary sketches for paintings, which are also produced in red and black.

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