# The sage-physician Dhanvantari, folio from the “Sixth” Bhagavata Purana series, also known as the “small” Guler-Basohli series

**Manaku**  
ca. 1735-1740  
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper  
H x W (painting): 16.5 × 26.7 cm (6 1/2 × 10 1/2 in)

Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, S2018.1.7. [The museum's record](https://asia.si.edu/object/S2018.1.7/).

## About this work

Dressed in the fashion of a nobleman at the court of Shah Jahan, the divine sage Dhanvantari wears a white jama and a gold-bordered patka (sash) adorned with a large flower motif. His beard is white, his face wrinkled with age, and he wears a Vaishnava tilak mark on his forehead. He sits on a yellow carpet decorated with gray-green leaves and maroon flowers. A narrow strip of cloud-streaked sky borders the brilliant orange ground. He holds two objects that may be associated with medicine.

_Text from the National Museum of Asian Art._

Manaku painted this in about 1735-1740. It is now at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **Opaque watercolour.** Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.

### [Manaku](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/manaku)

Manaku belonged to a family of painters from Guler in the Punjab Hills: he was the son of Pandit Seu and the elder brother of Nainsukh. His work, much of it for illustrated sets of religious texts, combines strong colour with lively narrative. A Gita Govinda series dated 1730 names him as its painter, and the large Ramayana series known as the Siege of Lanka is associated with him. His sons and nephews carried the family style into the next generation.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Himalayan peoples; South Asians
- Real size: about 6½ × 11 in (17 × 27 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: South Asian and Himalayan Art, Physicians, Men, Portraits
- Colour: vermilion
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1820.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1820/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-sage-physician-dhanvantari-folio-from-the-sixth-bhagavat-si-fsg-s2018-1-7).