Artist · 4 prints
Mandi school Prints
About the Mandi School
Mandi painting is the Pahari miniature painting of Mandi, a small hill kingdom in present-day Himachal Pradesh. Its early high point came under Raja Sidh Sen, who took the throne in 1684 and ruled until 1727. A devotee of Shiva rather than Krishna, he commissioned temples to Shiva and the Goddess and was reputedly over seven feet tall; his portraits often show him with an upright sword and a feather plume in his turban.
An anonymous painter whom the Metropolitan Museum of Art calls a Master of the Mandi atelier made large, ambitious pictures for him in the early 18th century, with muted greys, greens and whites and refined drawing. Under Sidh Sen and his successor Shamsher Sen (ruled 1727–81), known for his eccentric character, much Mandi painting was coarser. Slate blue and olive green are typical of the Mandi palette.
Mandi school prints: reproductions of miniature paintings from the hill kingdom of Mandi, made between the mid-17th and late 18th centuries. The collection includes Bhairavi Ragini: Folio from a Ragamala Series (1640), Maharaja Sidh Sen Receiving an Embassy (1700), Shamsher Sen of Mandi with a Youth (1760) and The Churning of the Ocean of Milk (1780).
This selection covers Mandi's two main subjects: portraits of its rulers, including Sidh Sen meeting visiting dignitaries and Shamsher Sen with a youth, and Hindu myth, with gods and demons churning the ocean of milk. A Bhairavi Ragini page from a ragamala series completes it.
The court portraits suit studies, offices and dining rooms; the mythological scene works in a living room or hallway. All prints are museum-quality reproductions, available unframed or framed with acrylic glazing, with free shipping and import duties covered.
