Indian myths, literature and arts depict numerous occasions when hearing of a prince's valorous deeds, a princess vowed to marry none else but him, and vice verse, hearing of the beauty of a princess, a prince relinquished his state and set out in her search. After Rukmani, the daughter of the Vidarbha king Bhismaka, heard of Krishna's great valour, she committed herself to him as his wife. Her brother Rukmi disliked Krishna and decided to marry his sister to Shishupal, the king of Chedi. A day before her marriage with Shishupal, she sent words to Krishna. Krishna came and beguiling Rukmi's entire army took away Rukmani with him. Usha, the daughter of demon king Bana, dreamt of an exceptionally handsome prince. Out of the details that she narrated, her friend Chitralekha sketched the portrait of the dream-prince. He was instantly identified as Kishna's son Pradumna. Usha vowed that she would marry none else but him. She knew that her father was Krishna's rival and would not agree to their marriage. Chitralekha somehow managed to kidnap Pradumna from his palace and brought him to Usha. For many days they lived together. One day, Bana came to know about it. He arrested Pradumna and put him in custody. Krishna was already worried about the mysterious disappearance of Pradumna. When he heard that he was in Bana's custody, he attacked his kingdom, defeated him and finally, Usha and Pradumna were married. The early sixteenth century Hindi poet Malik Mohammed Jayasi created a voluminous epic on a similar romance. Ratnasen, the king of Jammu-deep, hears from a parrot of the exceptional beauty of the Singhali princess Padmavati. Infatuated by her unparalleled beauty, Ratnasen vows to obtain her. He relinquishes his state and sets out in her search and finally obtains her. In contemporary times, this practice of choosing a groom or bride by one's photo or data is now quite a common practice prevailing in almost all sections of Indian society.
The painting portrays the same theme. A maid has brought to her patroness a number of portraits of various princes, whether of her own or as ordered by the parents of the princess. She is presenting them to her one after the other. The princess has already rejected many of them. She gives a little thought to the one in her hand, though she seems to have her mind somewhere else. The maid also knows that this one is not her choice. She is hence ready with yet another one in her hand and a few others by her side. The figures of the princess and her maid are modeled like Rajput female figures. As a matter of fact, even Mughal art sought its feminine types broadly in the Rajput feminine models. Floral border, over-all architecture, save the glasswork, which is characteristically European, and colour scheme reflect late Mughal art influence.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of ancient Indian literature. Dr Daljeet is the chief curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the National Museum of India, New Delhi. They have both collaborated on numerous books on Indian art and culture.
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