Krishna and Balarama play with the Cowherds (painting, recto; text, verso), folio from a Bhagavata Purana series

In this painting, the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna and his elder half-brother Balarama, along with the cowherds of Vrindavan, play various games, including tag and blind man's bluff, where Krishna, at the top center of the folio, is seen covering a cowherd's eyes. The lower register shows the cowherds mimicking animals and birds, including frogs, a detail described in the verses written on the reverse of the folio. This painting belongs to the 'Dispersed' Bhagavata Purana series, produced in the early 16th century, possibly in Mathura. The series, possibly consisting of 360 such folios, is based on the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, which describes the story of Krishna, particularly his childhood and youth. This series was one of South Asia's earliest illustrated Bhagavata Purana manuscripts. Each illustration is also accompanied by the text corresponding to the image on the reverse, written in Sanskrit. Other folios from the same Bhagavata Purana series in the Harvard Art Museum’s collection are objects 1963.145, 1974.124, 1974.125, 1974.126, 1992.283, 1995.66, 1995.67, 1995.68. Caurapancasika-group style. Text on Verso: Bhagavata Purana, Book Ten, Chapter 18, verse 14 (second half) - verse 15 (first half). This folio is preceded by 1974.125, which bears the first half of verse 14.