This beautiful miniature painting depicts the legendary beauty of ‘Bani thani’. It belongs to the Kishangarh School of Indian miniature paintings. Bani Thani was an enchanting mistress of Raja Sawant Singh of Kishangarh in Rajasthan. She was an quintessential Indian beauty with her elongated face with a high forehead, arched eyebrows, half open lotus eyes, sharp pointed nose, thin curved sensuous lips and a pointed chin over a long narrow neck. The curl of the hair around the ear added to her innate grace. She was the inspiration of the image of Radha of Kishangarh School of painting. Besides being blessed with natural beauty she was also an accomplished poetess and singer. In later years, Bani Thani along with Sawant Singh retired to the life of reclusion, singing devotional bhajans in praise of Krishna till they lost to the eternity. Adding to the richness of the theme of this painting is the color of gold that has been derived from pure 24k gold dusts.

About Kishangarh Painting: Kishangarh Painting is an 18th-century school of the Rajasthani style of Indian painting that arose in the princely state of Kishangarh. The school is clearly distinguished by its individualistic facial type and its religious intensity. The sensitive, refined features of the men and women are drawn with pointed noses and chins, deeply curved eyes, and serpentine locks of hair. It is speculated that the features of Bani Thani might have been the influence behind Kishangarh facial types. The action is frequently shown to occur in large panoramic landscapes.