The artists commissioned by Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar in the mid-17th century to create an illustrated Ramayan certainly didn t mind putting a thick twirl on the upper lip of a blue-skinned Ram. To modern eyes, this version of Ram looks more like Indrajit (Ravan s fine-looking and wonderfully named, but left unsurnamed son) than Ravi Varma s upstanding Citizen No. 1.
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It’s said that goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswathi did not have a form in India until Ravi Varma created his versions on canvas. And often, it was the Ravi Varma prints which were the first images.
Although un-subcontintental in colour tones, the Cartes Indiennes recall the nobles and attendants of South Asian painting, most famously Mughal miniatures.