TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 146

 Echoes of Renaissance: The Influence of 'Madonna Litta' on Raja Ravi Varma's 'Mother and Child'

'Madonna Litta,' a fifteenth-century painting by Leonardo da Vinci, has always been one of my personal favourites. While the enigma of the Mona Lisa often captivates many, I have always been drawn to the tender, motherly gaze of the Madonna as she looks down at the chubby infant Christ, who suckles at her breast. 

The intimate connection between the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ in Leonardo's masterpiece evokes a similar sentiment found in another painting by an artist close to my heart. Raja Ravi Varma's 'Mother and Child' (also known as 'Nair Lady with Her Child') shares a striking similarity in its composition, with both works evoking the universal bond of motherly love. The mother's gaze in both paintings radiates protection and deep emotional connection, reinforcing the sanctity and beauty of motherhood.

However, the purpose of this write-up is not to merely compare the similarities between the two artworks. It is more likely that, during his formative years at the Travancore court, Ravi Varma studied copies and prints of European Renaissance masterpieces in the royal collection. While his work reflects certain elements of Madonna Litta, Ravi Varma successfully reinterprets these influences to align with the aesthetic sensibilities of the native Travancoreans in the late nineteenth century.

The 'Mother and Child' is undoubtedly a masterpiece from Ravi Varma’s early years in Travancore, when he served as a court painter to Maharajah Ayilyam Tirunal. Evidence for its attribution to this period comes not from the painted surface itself, but from the verso of the canvas, which contains valuable information in the form of a handwritten note. This note provides the title of the painting as well as the date it was completed or added to the royal collection.

The title, or rather the legible portion of the note, reads as follows: 

“A Sudra Lady with an infant in her hands……with her sister…………….of the child”

By Ravi Vurmah

Koil Thambooran

23rd July 1877.

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 145

Unveiling Misattribution: The True Identity of the Subjects in the Kuthiramālika Palace Double Portrait

The misattribution of old portraits can often be traced back to a lack of detailed records or documentation surrounding the identities of the sitters and the artists who painted them. In many cases, these portraits have been passed down through generations or displayed in collections with little to no supporting information, leading to confusion about their true subjects.

A significant example of this issue is the double portrait in the Kuthiramālika Palace collection (Fort Palace complex, Thiruvananthapuram), which has been mistakenly identified as depicting Swathi Tirunal Rama Varma, the Maharaja of Travancore, and his younger brother Uthram Tirunal Marthanda Varma. For years, this portrait was associated with the royal family of Travancore due to their prominence and the likeness to known portraits of the two brothers. However, further research has revealed that the artwork, by F.C. Lewis, a European itinerant painter, actually depicts Sri Padmanabhan Tampi and Sri Nilakantan Tampi, sons of Maharajah Uthram Tirunal Marthanda Varma, from Nagercoil Ammaveedu.

Colonel Heber Drury, a famed botanist and a British army officer stationed in Travancore, provides a valuable glimpse into the private life of the Maharajah in his book ‘Reminiscences of Life and Sport in Southern India,’ where he describes his meeting with the Maharajah and his children. Drury, like many Europeans of the time, mistakenly identifies the children of the Maharajah—who are simply ‘Tampis’, ‘Tankachis’, or ‘Kochammas’—as ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’. He writes, “A messenger was forthwith despatched [by the Maharajah] to the nursery to ask mamma [Nagercoil Ammachi, consort of Maharajah Uthram Tirunal Marthanda Varma] to let the little ones come down, and in a few moments the small fry made their appearance. I may say without exaggeration that I seldom met a more interesting-looking youth than the eldest boy, a lad of about ten years old. He is very fair, with an intelligent countenance. He seemed so good and amiable, and talked English exceedingly well. He was dressed in a scarlet frock, embroidered with gold lace, on his head was a brocaded cap, beneath which his jet-black hair made a striking and beautiful contrast with his charming features. The next was a boy about four or five years younger, and the third, a little girl, in whom papa [the Maharajah] seemed to take especial interest and pride.”

The successful identification of the subjects in the portrait can be traced back to the careful examination of another painting (in the same collection) by F.C. Lewis—his large canvas depicting the reception of Queen Victoria’s presents by Maharajah Uthram Tirunal (more on this later). In this grand work, the sons of Maharajah Marthanda Varma, namely Sri Padmanabhan Tampi and Sri Nilakantan Tampi, are prominently featured, alongside the royals and other distinguished courtiers.

The proper identification of the sons of Maharajah Marthanda Varma, after all these years, not only gives a face to figures who were prominent in the social and political circles of their time but also restores their rightful place in historical narratives.

10.02.2025

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 143

  GIFTS FIT FOR A QUEEN

The Queen's Jubilee presents displayed in the Waterloo Chamber, Windsor Castle © Royal Collection Trust.

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee festivities in 1887 provided the Indian Maharajahs with yet another magnificent opportunity to demonstrate their steadfast allegiance to the British crown. The royals took good advantage of the occasion as usual, competing to present the Queen with the best gifts.

A detailed account of the Jubilee Celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Travancore, is found in the personal diaries of a government official named M. Veloo Pillai. A staunch diarist, Pillai lists the important events: "The native officers were invited for a feast at Padmavilasom, the Dewan's mansion, whereas the Europeans had a State Dinner at Huzur Cutcherry. A grand durbar was held to receive the 'Khareeta' from the Governor's office, and the museum grounds became the venue for many celebrations and games aimed at entertaining the younger population. The poor and needy were not forgotten; they too were fed on these days of pomp and festivities."

Among the other important events, Pillai records a generous donation made by the Maharajah towards the 'Imperial Institute' (London) and the 'Technical Institute' (Madras), and the Attingal Elaya Tampuran addressed a crowd of women when she made a speech on Queen Victoria's life and contributions. "Around two months after this," writes Pillai, "a portrait of the Travancore Maharani was sent to the Queen as a gift." This painting by Raja Ravi Varma, titled “The Presentation of a Jubilee Address to Queen Victoria” (signed and dated 1887), can still be found in the British royal collection.

'The Presentation of a Jubilee Address to Queen Victoria', by Ravi Varma © Royal Collection Trust.

Detail showing Ravi Varma's painting © Royal Collection Trust.

Pillai then proceeds to give us a brief account of other valuable gifts Maharajah Mulam Tirunal Rama Varma (r.1885-1924) had sent to the Queen; the three royal gifts, according to Pillai, were "made of elephant ivory and ebony."

Unlike the Ravi Varma painting, the history of the Golden Jubilee gifts has not been well documented. Some sources incorrectly report the gifts as those sent by Maharajah Uthram Tirunal Martanda Varma (r.1847-1860), who had sent the famed 'Ivory State Chair'/'Ivory Throne' to the Great London Exhibition of 1851. However, a photograph in the Royal Collection Trust titled “Golden Jubilee gifts arranged in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor” (RCIN 2916023) gives a rare glimpse of the Golden Jubilee gift from Travancore.

The ‘Register of Kentucky State Historical Society’ (May 1903) offers the ‘official description’ of the two gifts as follows:

1. Pair of elephant's tusks mounted on a buffalo's head carved in ebony which is supported on four griffins. The tusks are supported higher up by a cross-bar of ebony and resting on the heads of four figures representing some of the incarnations of Vishnu. Rushing from the projecting ends of the cross-bar to the tusks are two griffins with two elephants under them linking their trunks. In the center of the bar is a 16 handed figure of Shive (Shiva), standing on the prostrate form of an abamaram (apasmaram) or fiend. All figures are ebony.

2. Pair of elephant's tusks mounted as flower vases on a stand of rosewood covered with ivory mounted with gold and entwined by a pepper vine in fruit worked in gold. The vases are supported on two elephant's heads carved in ebony and rising from out of a base of rock and jungle worked in ivory and elephant’s teeth. The trunks of the elephants support a lotus of ivory on which is seated a golden image of Lukshine (Lakshmi) the goddess of prosperity.

Detail showing the gift from Travancore © Royal Collection Trust.

The exquisitely carved royal gift made of ivory and ebony.

The Jubilee presents and the Ivory State Chair presented in 1851 were among the star exhibits at the World’s Fair Louisiana, 1904, where they were exhibited at the Washington University building.

Writing on the fabulous assemblage of the priceless exhibits, a reviewer observes thus: “These Indian presents are interesting not merely on account of the precious metals and rare woods in which they are often worked but on account of their showing how in recent years the native art of India has been influenced by European ideas. At the same time, the collection contained many examples of Indian art in its most characteristic and unaffected form. They include richly illuminated addresses enclosed in costly and elaborate caskets of gold, silver, ivory or iron damascened with gold and silver; carvings in rare jade, sandal-wood, ebony, and gold; royal saddler, chairs of state, and elephant’s tusks of great size.

The presents exhibited comprised only a small proportion of thousands sent from every part of the Empire now included in the Royal Collections at Buckingham Palace Windsor Castle Osborne and Sandringham.”

Queen Victoria's Jubilee Presents (the ivory state chair in the center was gifted to the Queen in 1851) exhibited at World's Fair Louisiana.

The assessment is all the more interesting and relevant considering the evident Western influence in all walks of native life since the mid-nineteenth century. For instance, Ravi Varma’s art was founded on Indian ethos, but the artist adopted Western technique and medium to manifest it. However, the gilded figurine of Goddess Lakshmi, depicted as seated on the lotus, strictly adheres to the traditional system of Hindu religious iconography. As observed by the reviewer, it remains a fine example of Indian art in its “most characteristic and unaffected form.”

Sharat Sunder Rajeev

30.06.2024.