Title
Hanuman (Tanjore Glass Painting)
Year/Period
20th century
Dimension
Frame size: 69.0 x 53.6 x 1.7 cm,
Image size: 59.9 x 44.1 cm
Image size: 59.9 x 44.1 cm
Accession No.
2015-00166
Collection of
This is a Tanjore painting done on glass, also known as a reverse glass painting. The image shows Hanuman venerating Rama and Sita as they appear to him. Tanjore paintings as they are called, mostly emerged from the area around Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu in the 18th century. While originally painted on wood or cloth, using elaborate decorative elements like gold leaf and coloured glass (sometime precious stones), by the 20th century they started being painted on glass. Glass painting had been brought to India by Chinese artists, who themselves had learnt it from Jesuit priests in Canton. This form of the Tanjore painting was simplistic and mostly made for mass consumption.
