The last unfinished work of celebrated painter Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), Parsee Lady, was unveiled on April 29, 2023 by Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan at Kilimanoor Palace, about 30 km from Trivandrum, the painter’s birthplace, according to news reports. The day marked the 175th birth anniversary of the painter, considered among the greatest in the history of Indian art. His works are believed to fuse European academic art with an Indian sensibility and iconography. The painting is currently owned by the Kilimanoor Palace Trust. The Trust has decided to unveil the painting along with another one, a portrait of Thriketta Thirunal Uma Amma Thampuratti, an aristocrat in the erstwhile Travancore State, stated media reports.
Lawyer cum art historian Ganesh Shivaswamy, who specializes in the work of Ravi Varma, told Parsiana on May 2 that "the unusual aspect of Parsee Lady is that this painting features in a photograph of Ravi Varma and his artist brother, Raja Varma, in their studio… Unfortunately there are no details about the sitter. However, surely a wealthy one.” He quipped: "You can spell Parsee any way you like… Ravi Varma did not give the title.”
Clockwise from above l: Raja Ravi Varma; Parsee Lady Photo: Collection of Kilimanoor Palace Trust;
Raja Varma (l), Raja Ravi Varma (center) with another person Photo: Private collection
"We assume that the painting was a visual adaptation of a Parsi woman he came to know in Bombay,” general secretary of the Trust, Rama Varma Thampuran, told The Hindu on April 29. He stated that the painting "provided a glimpse into the Bombay (phase of the) life of the artist.” The news report stated that Ravi Varma wound up his Bombay press, sold his property there, and returned to Kerala in 1904 after his younger brother fell ill. "He continued to paint at Chithrashala (art house) in the Palace… He completed many of the paintings he had brought from Bombay and gifted them, but Parsee Lady remained unfinished.”
Art restorers S. Madhan and A. Moses, based in Tamil Nadu, who worked on the painting, were quoted as stating, "Whatever he left unfinished is now part of history. We have just restored the painting to its original form by removing the old varnish layers and accumulated dirt…by applying organic chemicals. Further, the original paint layers were consolidated using revivable materials.”
Madhan and Moses were quoted in The New Indian Express of April 30 as stating, "Ravi Varma had not completed the fingers and background. The canvas was very fragile… We had to work on the folding and also address the cracks developed over the years of lying idle… Our job was not to retouch it, but to reintegrate it…We had to give life to the Parsee Lady.”
The paintings will be put up for public viewing a month later as the Palace authorities will have to arrange appropriate security measures, stated the news reports.
Parsi Portraits From The Studio of Raja Ravi Varma by Priya Maholay Jaradi carries reproductions of the artist’s Parsi subjects, models, and formal portraits (see "The prince and the Parsis,” Books, Parsiana, July 7, 2012).