Иконическая картина MV Дхурандхара «Шри Махалакшми» ставит ученых в тупик из-за неясной иконографии

Shri Mahalakshmi by MV Dhurandhar MV Dhurandhar was the most significant among India's 'history painters', with this being one of his most iconic paintings Curated By Jasodhara Banerjee Image and text courtesy: DAG Possibly the most popular academic Indian artist after Raja Ravi Varma, MV Dhurandhar (1867–1944) was born in Kolhapur, and studied at the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai. In 1985, he became the first Indian to win the prestigious gold medal from Bombay Art Society for his oil painting, ‘Have You Come Laxmi?’ Upon graduation, he joined the college as a teacher and became its first Indian director in 1930. While the Abanindranath Tagore-led revivalist movement had taken hold of Bengal as a reaction to British academic dominance in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, Mumbai artists did commissioned works that were academic in their rendering and technique but within an indigenous context. They became known as history painters, and Dhurandhar was the most significant among them. His ‘Shri Mahalakshmi’—an oil-on-board artwork from 1899, measuring 60x27.7 inches—has intrigued scholars because of its ambiguous iconography. The four-armed goddess has attributes associated with Vishnu, raising questions about whether the figure represents Vishnu himself or Lakshmi, his consort. The work has all the benchmarks of Dhurandhar’s style—the figure’s grace, ornate crown and jewellery reflecting the aesthetics of the Prabhu Pathare community, while the white sari evokes purity and virtue. It stands as one of Dhurandhar’s most iconic paintings. - Home / - Life / - Know-your-art / - Shri-mahalakshmi-by-mv-dhurandhar