Krishna's Early Life at Vrindaban, Datia, Central India, c.1790,

an illustration from the Bhagavata Purana, gouache with gold on paper, labelled in devanagari in numerous places, twenty lines of text on the reverse, a further seventeen lines on an attached sheet, Datia state tasvirkhana stamp also on the reverse, framed. In the panel at the top, Sukadeva, the sage, is reciting the purana to King Parikshit. Below are various scenes from Krishna's early life at Vrindaban, with Mount Govardhana on the right. Below the mountain Brahma prostrates himself in front of Krishna, while in the foreground, along the river Jumna, Krishna is worshipped by other deities. The Bhagavata Purana, thought to have been composed around 1000 AD is the most famous of the puranas (literally "ancient tales") and recounts the life and loves of Krishna. For another page from this series, formerly in the Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Collection, see Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2002, lot 25. Others are in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Metzger Collection, Germany (Joachim Bautze, 1991, p.50-51)