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A Lady Playing the Tanpura

Unidentified artist, Kishangarh, ca. 1735. Kishangarh, Rajasthan, India.

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Thirty works are on view at a time, ten to a room. Every day at midnight UTC, the ten that have hung longest go back into storage and ten others come out, so each work hangs for three days and then rests for three. A work always returns to the same place on the same wall.

A woman in an orange turban and pearl necklaces sits holding a tall long-necked tanpura against her shoulder, her fingers on the strings.
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0). Select it for the full size.

A woman sits with a tanpura, a long-necked stringed instrument, resting against her shoulder. The tanpura doesn’t play a melody. It gives a steady drone, the ground that singers and other players build their music on, and playing it well means keeping a gentle and unbroken sound. She touches the strings with one hand and looks ahead calmly. The painters of Kishangarh, a small court in Rajasthan, became known for figures with long, curving eyes and elegant profiles, and this is an early example. Her orange turban, strings of pearls and patterned shawl fill the page with color. She seems to be listening as much as playing.

Look closely

  1. Look at her eye. How does the painter shape it?
  2. Follow the long neck of the instrument from top to bottom.
  3. Find the jewelry. How many kinds can you see?

While you sit

One steady note, held for as long as it takes. Let it hum under your thoughts.

Your seat in the galleries: a low divan in saffron cloth with rose-pink bolsters, made for listening.

About the work

Title
A Lady Playing the Tanpura
Artist
Unidentified artist, Kishangarh
Date
ca. 1735
From
Kishangarh, Rajasthan, India
Medium
Ink, opaque and transparent watercolor, and gold on paper
Size
18 1/2 x 13 1/4 in. (47 x 33.7 cm)
Rights
Public domain
Image
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)
Record
The museum's page for this work

The words on this page were written for the campus, not taken from the museum's label.

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