What does longing sound like — and what would it look like if it were a person? What does the peacock’s call signify in an image? What fragrance emanates from the flowering tree beneath which the young woman stands, playing a lute? The unique exhibition at Museum Rietberg is dedicated to Ragamala, a jewel of Indian miniature painting in which music, poetry, and painting merge. Since the 15th century, painters at Indian royal courts have illustrated music in images. The melodies are associated with specific moods. Based on verses describing them as human characters, the painters transformed them into pictures. These images tell of love, pain, melancholy, and longing. The exhibition presents around fifty magnificent masterpieces of Ragamala painting from the Museum Rietberg collection.
