The Men and Women Who Inspired Ravi Varma

In February 1906, the 10-year-old rani of Travancore was taken to the upstairs window of an old palace. Standing below in the courtyard were two boys, one a college-goer, the other his teenaged younger brother.

- Manu S. Pillai

In February 1906, the 10-year-old rani of Travancore was taken to the upstairs window of an old palace. Standing below in the courtyard were two boys, one a college-goer, the other his teenaged younger brother. As she studied them, the rani was asked to select the one she liked. Her mother was keen on the older candidate—a good-looking, "very strong" fellow—as were others at court. Indeed, the boy was so handsome and well-proportioned that the artist Raja Ravi Varma had had him model as Lord Rama for his painting, Sri Rama Vanquishing the Sea. But the rani selected the younger boy, elevating him from life as a country aristocrat into the seat of royal consort, and in the 1920s he would wield much power when his wife succeeded as Travancore's ruler. As for the older sibling, Rajaraja Varma, life had other plans: he finished college, joined the Travancore police, and spent his career in khaki shorts.

Few today who admire the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma—whose birth anniversary occurred last week—think of the men and women who feature in some of his most famous paintings. His models were often just family members. In the 1890s, for example, Ravi Varma had his 20-year-old daughter pose in different ways with her baby son for the camera, using these images to produce his celebrated There Comes Papa.

In 1893, this portrait of a Malayali mother, who lived in the most orthodox settings in Kerala, was viewed by audiences in faraway Chicago, as one of 10 works her father sent for an exhibition. Mahaprabha, the daughter, was deemed a great beauty in her day, and according to the artist's descendants, Ravi Varma modeled the faces of several of his goddesses on her. She looked a bit too regal, though, so he did soften her demeanor for canvas; Ravi Varma's devis are more delicate than formidable.