Ram Singh I of Kota Hunting Rhinoceros Kota School 1700 AD

Animals have fascinated the artists throughout history. They are depicted on caves to palaces. The elephant has caught the imagination of the indian artists. Considered to be the wisest of the animals, Lord Ganesh, the god of wisdom, in the Hindu pantheon, is elephant headed. Like the Mughal School, the Kota school has excelled in depicting the elephant. But while the former School has caught the majesty of the animal, the latter has emphasised the comic part of the animal. The elephant is round bodied, corpulent, cumbersome, comical. But in this painting, the artist has depicted the strength, the agility, the force of the animal. The elephant has caught the rhinoceros with its trunk. The rhinoceros is devoid of any strength. The speed, the thumping, the thrust of the spear, the fight between man and nature has been transformed into a lyrical poetry of lines and colors, of shapes and shades. This painting is a tribute to the genius of the Kota master artists.