Hanuman with Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders, from a Kalighat album

c. 1890

Hanuman with Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders, from a Kalighat album, c. 1890. Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat. Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper; overall: 68.8 x 42.6 cm (27 1/16 x 16 3/4 in.); painting: 45.6 x 29.4 cm (17 15/16 x 11 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward 2003.120 A simplified but bold color palette of orange, yellow, and green with silvery accents gives this image of Rama, Lakshmana, and their monkey ally Hanuman a sense of rhythm and urgency. Riding on Hanuman’s shoulders, the hero Rama—painted green—and his brother Lakshmana search for Rama’s abducted wife Sita. At the bottom of the painting, an informal scrawl contemplates the identification of the colossal figure as either the “Great Hero” Hanuman or Sugriva, but the image of a devoted tawny monkey carrying the two brothers unambiguously indicates Hanuman, Rama’s most faithful follower. Hanuman can change his size and form at will, even making himself colossal in order to carry the two princes.