Hansa Damayanthi 

Raja Ravi Varma painted Hansa Damayanthi with oil on canvas in India around the turn of the 20th century. It depicts a scene from the Mahabharata, where the swan, or hansa, acts as a messenger between Damayanthi and her future husband. Varma's work gained popularity for its fusion of European academic realism with Indian subjects. But more than this, it was his modern approach to art institutions that cemented his influence. Varma established a printing press to reproduce his paintings, making them widely accessible to the Indian public, which democratized art consumption and challenged the elite's control over artistic patronage. He drew upon classical Indian literature and mythology, revitalizing traditional narratives, yet rendered his subjects with a Westernized aesthetic. This helped to forge a new Indian artistic identity. To fully appreciate this painting, a historian could study the rise of Indian nationalism, Varma's biography, and the history of art education in India, all of which deepen our understanding of the complex forces at play in the making of this artwork.