Portrait Painting as a Dramatic Device in Sanskrit Plays
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3965448 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Virginia Saunders (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1919 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Pages | 299 |
| Publication date | 1919-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/592750 |
| OpenAlex | W2312827331 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
JUDGING FROM THE MANY INSTANCES of portrait painting in Sanskrit literature, the art was apparently a very common accomplishment. It is interesting to examine the extensive use to which it has been put as a dramatic device in the plays. Kdliddsa employs it in gakuntala and MAlavikagnimitra; Bhavabhu-ti, in Mdlatimddhava and the Uttara-rdma-carita, Harsa in Ratndvall and NMgananda, and Rdjasekhara in Viddhasalibhanjikd. In Mdlavikdgnimitral the actual episode of the painted portrait takes place the day before the play opens, but the retailing of the occurrence by one maid to another serves to introduce the plot which is in most part developed from it. The previous day the Queen had gone to the picture-gallery to inspect a recently finished picture which had been painted by a court painter. It was a group, the Queen surrounded by her attendants, among them Malavika. As the Queen is looking at the picture the King comes into the room and seats himself beside her. When he sees Mdlavikd in the picture he asks, 'What is the name of the girl, that I have not seen before, standing near you in the picture?' The Queen pays no attention to him and he repeats his question. Still she does not answer, but her young sister finally volunteers the information that it is MAlavika. The King makes a mental note of this fact, and the Queen very shortly has cause to regret ever having had the picture painted. In gakuntal2 the purpose of the painting is quite different, and yet it serves to assist in the reuniting of the King and his lost beloved. In Act 6, Sanumati, a nymph, is sent by 9akuntala's celestial mother to discover the real state of the King's
Art · Art history · Literature · Painting · Portrait · Sanskrit · Indian History and Philosophy · Philippine History and Culture · South Asian Studies and Conflicts
| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |