Sketchbook page, Naga Mandala

Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley has long been a center of art making, and thus a number of objects from there that give insight into the artistic process have been preserved. Among these are sketchbooks, which were used as reference materials for painters who had to accurately reproduce complex and precise deity representations in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions.This sketchbook page depicts an assembly of nine snake deities (naga), figures that rule the water and the underground and are appealed to for both wealth and fertility. They are drawn in fine detail with accompanying annotations that indicate the colors they should be painted. The exceptional qualities of this sketchbook make it clear that it was drafted by a masterful artist. Its complex shapes of intertwined figures are confidently outlined and overlap is avoided, even in the case of the many objects the deities hold. An impressive amount of detail was included for a sketchbook composition. The water background and border have been drawn in full, and the minor figures, particularly the demons under the feet of each snake deity, are each shown in a different posture.