AMNH 70.0/8317 Smaradahana: Burning of Smara

The burning of Smara (the love god) and the suicide of Ratih, his wife.

This painting is organised as a rectangle, higher than it is wide, with two equal sized scenes at the top and a smaller scene at the bottom. In the top left-hand scene the gods are depicted in the upper left-hand corner, watching as Smara (lower part of scene) is burnt by the pamurtian (angry) form of Siwa, which dominates the right side of the scene. In the right-hand scene, the gods are depicted in the upper right-hand corner, watching as Ratih throws herself from a tower into a fire below. In the bottom scene the gods depicted in the upper corners, (from left to right) Kubera (?), Yama, Gana (Ganesa) and Indra talk to Siwa, who is shown on the right side of the painting holding a baby. The scenes are all separated by square borders. This painting is a non-Kamasan work (from Buleleng?) on European cloth. It is of high quality, and shows little deterioration.