This beautiful Thanjavur reverse glass painting of Kalinga Mardhana Krishna is from the 1950s/60s. The painting depicts the story when a young Krishna subdued the dangerous snake Kaliya who had poisoned the River Yamuna. Krishna stands with one foot on the snake’s hoods and the other on the back of the subdued Kaliya. In Krishna’s left hand he holds the tail of Kaliya, and in his right a conch. Krishna has a peacock feather in his topknot and is adorned with numerous gold jewellery pieces including bracelets, anklets and necklaces. Yamuna is depicted in the lower half of the frame with a beautiful cloudy sky above. Krishna, the God of love and compassion, is the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, but is worshipped in his own right. He has always been one of the most popular deities in Southern India and so is frequently depicted in paintings of the classical traditions.