''Galaxy of Musicians'' is a painting by the Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma.

Description

The painting shows a group of Indian women from various backgrounds playing their traditional instruments; from the Muslim courtesan on the right to the

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...

woman playing a

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

on the left and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

woman at centre the painting emphasizes the dresses and adornments of women from all over India. Originally painted for the Maharaja of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, Ravi Varma focused in one painting on each group's customs and how they all characterized music.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Raja Ravi Varma 1889 paintings Indian paintings Raja Ravi Varma