Maharana Sarup Singh Inspects a Prize Stallion | 1845–46, Mewar | The Met Museum
Day 28 of our 30 Day January Challenge was to transcribe Maharana Sarup Singh Inspects a Prize Stallion, by Mewar. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought, but one of our artists did. Soon after the challenge was posted, I received an email from Dorothy Richards. Her letter is shared below, with permission.
Sacrifice, by Dorothy Richards
Birthday gift? Or is this a ceremonial sacrifice.
Looking into today’s challenge, I just spent an hour going down a rabbit hole of research trying to figure out the interaction between the horse and the Maharana, which is clearly the focus here.
I think the art historians have it all wrong. The horse is not a birthday present. This horse is about to be sacrificed in a fertility ceremony.
Singh has a rifle and a dagger by his feet. Why would he need those with his armed guards standing behind him and to his side. Does he need them for something other than protection? To shoot the horse? Notice that nobody is standing behind the horse in case of an errant shot. Notice how the artist paints the rifle and dagger pointing directly at the horse.
The horse is hobbled to stand still, and blindfolded out of mercy. The horse is wearing red and white stripes. (maybe zig zagged to graphically depict the fabric following the contours of the body.) Red and white stripes in Hinduism represent fertility. Red for menstrual blood and white for sperm. The horse is the only one not wearing pink. He is meant to be the focus.
Check this out. I found it in an article about horse sacrifices in 18th century India.
A number of rituals saw a revival in the 18th century, because Rajput rulers wanted to assert their legitimacy as dharmic kings and cultural crusaders. This included the ancient ashvamedha yagya – a horse sacrifice ritual. While Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur conducted such a yagya, his contemporary in Mewar, Sangram Singh II, had detailed rituals depicted in commissioned manuscripts. In the ashvamedha yagya, a white horse is left free to roam and the territory it covers is deemed to then belong to the king who sponsors the yagya. Anyone who stops the horse, in effect, challenges the king to battle. At the end of the ceremony, the queen ‘sleeps’ (symbolically) with the horse to ensure the fertility and prosperity of the kingdom, and the horse is finally sacrificed. The horse is then eaten by people of the court, including the Brahmin priest. (Source: The Print: Art to sacrifices: How the horse became important in 18th century India)
The significance of the dog? I just read that food offerings were made to dogs during ceremonies of death. In Hinduism, dogs watch over the gates of Hell and are often at the site of offerings.
Thanks for introducing this! Very interesting.
Dorothy Richards
Geeze I feel bad for the horse, but my experience of the painting has deepened substantially. Thank you for following your curiosity, Dorothy.
There was another artist who picked up the cues that I’d missed. This terrible scene is by Stephen Enriquez:
Camille Ireland considered the scene from the Horse’s point of view, thankfully with solace and wind swept grass.
‘Daydreams of the Blindfolded’
I couldn’t help but wonder what the horse is thinking during the inspection. @mille.ireland
Here are some other, more colorful transcriptions.
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Lyall Wallerstedt
The Cotton Candy Ceremony, Gretchen
Ellen Borison
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Kate Davis
@wendy_lumsdaine
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30SAL Faves: Transcribe an Indian Mini
Day 28 of our 30 Day January Challenge was to transcribe Maharana Sarup Singh Inspects a Prize Stallion, by Mewar. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought, but one of our artists did. Soon after the challenge was posted, I received an email from Dorothy Richards. Her letter is shared below, with permission.
Birthday gift? Or is this a ceremonial sacrifice.
Looking into today’s challenge, I just spent an hour going down a rabbit hole of research trying to figure out the interaction between the horse and the Maharana, which is clearly the focus here.
I think the art historians have it all wrong. The horse is not a birthday present. This horse is about to be sacrificed in a fertility ceremony.
Singh has a rifle and a dagger by his feet. Why would he need those with his armed guards standing behind him and to his side. Does he need them for something other than protection? To shoot the horse? Notice that nobody is standing behind the horse in case of an errant shot. Notice how the artist paints the rifle and dagger pointing directly at the horse.
The horse is hobbled to stand still, and blindfolded out of mercy. The horse is wearing red and white stripes. (maybe zig zagged to graphically depict the fabric following the contours of the body.) Red and white stripes in Hinduism represent fertility. Red for menstrual blood and white for sperm. The horse is the only one not wearing pink. He is meant to be the focus.
Check this out. I found it in an article about horse sacrifices in 18th century India.
Art to sacrifices: How the horse became important in 18th century India
A number of rituals saw a revival in the 18th century, because Rajput rulers wanted to assert their legitimacy as dharmic kings and cultural crusaders. This included the ancient ashvamedha yagya – a horse sacrifice ritual. While Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur conducted such a yagya, his contemporary in Mewar, Sangram Singh II, had detailed rituals depicted in commissioned manuscripts. In the ashvamedha yagya, a white horse is left free to roam and the territory it covers is deemed to then belong to the king who sponsors the yagya. Anyone who stops the horse, in effect, challenges the king to battle. At the end of the ceremony, the queen ‘sleeps’ (symbolically) with the horse to ensure the fertility and prosperity of the kingdom, and the horse is finally sacrificed. The horse is then eaten by people of the court, including the Brahmin priest. (Source: The Print: Art to sacrifices: How the horse became important in 18th century India)
The significance of the dog? I just read that food offerings were made to dogs during ceremonies of death. In Hinduism, dogs watch over the gates of Hell and are often at the site of offerings.
Thanks for introducing this! Very interesting.
Dorothy Richards
Geeze I feel bad for the horse, but my experience of the painting has deepened substantially. Thank you for following your curiosity, Dorothy.
There was another artist who picked up the cues that I’d missed. This terrible scene is by Stephen Enriquez:
Camille Ireland considered the scene from the Horse’s point of view, thankfully with solace and wind swept grass.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the horse is thinking during the inspection. @mille.ireland
Here are some other, more colorful transcriptions.
Are you ever going to tell us what Juggead means?
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