Title
Tirupati painting of Dashavatara, Matsya avatara
Year/Period
18th century
Region
Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
Object Type
Dimension
Object size: 22 x 12.5 cm
Accession No.
2005-00004-001
Collection of
Credit Line
Purchased with funds from Hwang Soo Jin and anonymous donors
This painting of Matsya avatara, as one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, belongs to a group of three Tirupati souvenir paintings. He is depicted under a canopy of flowers and garlands. On the reverse of this painting is a wooden 'ther' (chariot) with an icon of Vishnu. The faces of the deities in this series are blue complexioned with white highlights and the colours red, blue green, yellow and pink have been used liberally.The style, colours and decorative features suggest that they were made for Vaishnava (Vishu devotees) patrons who may have visited Tirupati temple and were carrying back these paintings as a memento of their pilgrimage.
