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Chawla began her excavation of the Ravi Varma myth in 1993 with an exhibition at the National Museum. The highlight of that show was the discovery of the diary of Ravi Varma’s younger brother C Raja Raja Varma. The younger Varma,we learn,had actually assisted his brother and in his diary,penned in flowing long-hand English,recorded their travels as itinerant painters.

The book tells us of the two brothers and their love for fine coffees,taking dips in all the local ponds and rivers and how often they fell ill as a result of this. More seriously though,we also get a glimpse of the deep camaraderie they shared. And a strange fact comes to light—only later canvases were co-signed even though both Varmas worked on many of the commissioned works—elder brother Ravi Varma following the practice of guilds in Italy and took all the credit for previous art works.

“The diary is just one aspect of the book. There are eight chapters that uncover his methods and techniques through x-rays of paintings that reveal that he has reworked many of his compositions. I have traced several of his recurring motifs and figures in his canvases. And the two photographers I worked with,Sunny and Prakash,have photographed collections that many historians have never had access to,” says Chawla. She has also dedicated a chapter to the popular influence of Ravi Varma in the works of other artists like Atul Dodiya and Nalini Malani’s feminist critique of his tropes of ‘typical Indian’ beauty.

Rare gems of the collection include portraits from the Pudukkottai Royal family of Tamil Nadu. An arresting 40×50 inch portrait of the Rani Janaki Subbamma Bai Sahib,dated 1879,reveals Ravi Varma’s technical excellence and intuition. The artist has not only captured the striking individual features of his sitter,but hinted at the tension and drama of the Rani’s story.

A war of succession was being fought at the time of this portrait and the Rani was about to lose her throne to Molly Fink,a British supplant,who was manoeuvered in place by the schemes of the Dewan,Seshaiah Sastri. Though her posture is straight-backed,a slight frown furrows her forehead. She clutches a bunch of English tea roses that look out of place in her regal Indian settings; the chair she is seated on is typical British furniture,the coverlet is made of an Indian fabric.
This portrait is quite unlike the tropes used by him for his mythological creations,where most of the women look either like his daughter,who often posed for her father,or his Maharashtrian muse,classical singer Anjanibai Malpekar,whom he met and fell in love with when in Bombay.

We also get a glimpse of a rare portrait of Varma’s wife who was rather plain-looking and clearly did not serve as his muse,given that Ravi Varma was known for ‘idealised’ beauties. There are a few unseen portraits of portly affluent women,whose portraits have been tucked away in private collections for obvious reasons.
Perhaps the piece de resistance is a work titled Sita in Ashoka Grove,an 1894,40×30 inches oil on canvas that shows us Sita as viewed by Hanuman. The work exposes Varma’s desire to emulate and perpetuate the stereotypes of the fair Brahmin surrounded by the dark and demonic Lankan clan of Ravana’s dasi. Interestingly,it also eroticises the demonic women guarding Sita for they appear bare-breasted while Sita is virtuously clothed. Chawla reveals that it was perhaps the most difficult work to document and the owners of the painting have chosen to remain unnamed,even in the book.
Clearly,Ravi Varma was a man of his times. Though he has been credited with a rich body of work that embraces theatricality and portraiture,and was the first Indian to master the European discipline of oil painting,some areas of his work remain open to critique.