Visions of Paradise presents the NGV’s internationally important holdings of Indian court paintings and takes exhibition visitors on a journey to the opulent palaces, sumptuous lifestyles and cultural activities of the famed Indian Maharaja and Maharana of Rajasthan.

The exhibition features a selection of works from a major 1980 Felton Bequest acquisition of over 270 paintings that document the princely lifestyles of the Rajput courts of Bikaner, Marwar (Jodhpur), Jaipur, Kotar and Mewar (Udaipur). These seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings produced with rich gem-like pigments, an astounding attention to detail and unconventional approaches to perspective create visually complex and sophisticated scenes that have become internationally celebrated and quintessentially associated with Indian culture and India’s visual identity.

Paintings in the exhibition include portraits of the kings and his court, depictions of scenes of palace life and rituals including depictions of important religious festivals, celebratory street parades, playing polo, and leading legendary battles.