The Lovely Damsel

The Lovely Damsel

by Fattu. From the Bihari Sat Sai series. 

Kangra School.  Late 18th century AD.

           Krishna passes by Radha's house when she suddenly appears on the doorway. Their gazes meet. Both are lost in each other. Later on Krishna describes her beauty in these terms:
          Tired with climbing the mountains of her breasts,My gaze proceeded slowly to see the beauty of her face,Having met the pit of her chin on the way,It fell into it, never to come out again.This couplet describes the beauty of a cleft in the chin of a Nayika.
         Fattu has caught the suddenness of the meeting with Radha adjusting her 'odhani' and turning to see who passes her street. Fattu has also captured the simplicity of a village, with the sophistication of the city in the background.  He also places a romantic symbol in the two birds sitting amongst the branches. 
Fattu's composition can be recognised easily.  Within an oval frame, he places building structure in the foreground and a landscape beyond the building in the background.  Invariably there is redness in the sky marking the early morning.  Few figures are painted to bring out the  essence of love, the theme of Bihari's poetry.
         Never has love been captured in more subtle ways than in Fattu's paintings.