What the Rajasthani schools are and how they painted

The Rajasthani Schools are the painting schools of the princely kingdoms and thikanas (estates) of Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh: Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur, Malwa, Sirohi and others. They flourished from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth century.

In 1916, Anand Coomaraswamy called them 'Rajput Paintings', to set them apart from Mughal painting. That term is now out of date; we say Rajasthani and Pahari instead.

The schools were close together, but each had its own way of working: fine or bold execution, its own colours, composition, way of telling a story, and degree of naturalism.

How a painting was made:

• It was painted on wasli: thin handmade sheets of paper glued together.
• Outlines were drawn in black or brown.
• Colours came from minerals, with gold and silver, mixed with glue.
• Brushes were made of camel and squirrel hair.
• Finally the painting was burnished (rubbed) with an agate stone to give it a sheen.

It was teamwork. The master drew the design; specialists coloured the portraits, the buildings, the landscape and the animals; the master finished it; and a scribe wrote the verse.