Bazar Mughal: Todi Ragini with Hunter and Deer

A Mughal miniature painting, Bazar Mughal, Northern India, late19th/early 20th century, Todi Ragini, gouache on wasli paper, mounted on Chinese silk, showing a serene landscape with a woman under a tree on a mound and two recumbent deer, broken by the presence of a hunter with a gun in the foreground; this painting relates to the Ragamala theme, which are sets of pictorial depictions of major and minor melodies (ragas and raginis) of north Indian classical music, 19.5 x 33.5 cm. Other Notes: Usually, the painting of this ragini would show a woman with a vina- stringed instrument- in wilderness, singing for her absent lover. The music is supposed to evoke loving tenderness and sadness. When animals listen to her music, they gather round her. In most paintings, a buck and doe are shown next to the woman, entranced by her music. This painting is unusual as it combines the long-practiced formulaic rendering of Todi Ragini by introducing two hunters aiming for the deer.