Yasoda with Krishna Churning Butter

c. 1890

Yasoda with Krishna Churning Butter, c. 1890. Eastern India, Kolkata, Kalighat. Gum tempera, ink, graphite, and tin on paper; secondary support: 51.3 x 35.6 cm (20 3/16 x 14 in.); painting only: 45 x 27.8 cm (17 11/16 x 10 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward 2003.160 Yashoda, wife of the head of the cowherd village, raised Krishna from infancy. She is shown here churning milk into butter, while the mischievous toddler Krishna tips his hand in the pot to steal the rich cream. Kalighat paintings were made for pilgrims to take home and keep on domestic shrines. Made swiftly on inexpensive paper, they are a genre of art available to a wide swath of people. The Hindu god Krishna eats butter, like the sacrificial fire into which Brahman priests pour ghee.