Ravi Varma (1848–1906) was one of the first Indian painters to successfully adopt Western painting techniques and adapt academic realism to the visual interpretation of Indian mythology. His genre of paintings, which eventually lead to chromolithographs (oleographs), has maintained a lasting effect on the Indian sensibility, making him the best-known classical painter of the modern era. This book is an account of Ravi Varma’s traditional background and environment and how they related to the modernization of colonial India, as well as his profession as an aristocratic itinerant painter. Lavishly illustrated with images taken from princely and private collections, and museums, the book includes works that have never been seen before: previously undisclosed maps, letters, photographs and other archival material.
