Chhatrapati Shivaji by Ravi Varma Press Print (18×24)

Fine Art Reproduction Print (Museum-Grade Archival Print)

Artist / Date Raja Ravi Varma Press | 1890 | Oleograph on Paper | Maharashtra

Key Features

This magnificently dynamic and historically stirring composition presents Chhatrapati Shivaji - the greatest warrior king of Maharashtra, the founder of the Maratha Empire, and the most beloved hero of the Deccan - in one of the finest and most enduringly celebrated images of the king in the entire Indian print tradition. The oleograph depicts Shivaji astride his black horse in full forward motion - sword drawn, arm extended in the commanding gesture of a general leading his cavalry into battle - the Deccan landscape stretching behind him with its characteristic rocky terrain and scrub vegetation, and on the horizon, the silhouette of a great Maratha fort against the turquoise sky. The composition is framed by the king's cavalry escort and the column of marching soldiers visible in the middle distance - the complete apparatus of the Maratha military machine in motion under its most sovereign command.

What makes this oleograph historically extraordinary is the fact that Ravi Varma - who never met Shivaji and had only the historical record of his exploits to draw upon - produced an image that was immediately and universally recognized by the Maratha people as capturing the king's essential character with complete accuracy. The white garments, the gold-bordered turban with its distinctive Maratha style, the ease and authority of the posture on horseback, the forward-directed sword arm and the completely alert gaze - all of these elements together create the portrait of a man who was simultaneously a brilliant military strategist, a deeply devoted Bhakta, a just administrator, and a completely fearless warrior whose courage was rooted not in aggression but in the absolute conviction of one defending what is sacred. The composition received high praise precisely because Ravi Varma had captured this quality - the particular combination of martial authority and moral certainty - from historical memory alone.

Shivaji's legacy (1630-1680) as the founder of the Maratha Empire and the first great champion of Hindu Swaraj remains as vital and as immediately present in Maharashtra's cultural and political consciousness today as it was when this oleograph was first printed - making it not merely an art historical document but a living piece of the identity of one of India's most proud and most historically self-aware regional traditions.

Museum-Grade Poster Details

• Size: 18 × 24 inches
• Paper: 350 GSM archival matte paper
• Print Quality: High-resolution reproduction preserving the dynamic cavalry composition, the turquoise Deccan sky, the fort silhouette, the warm earth tones of the landscape, and the full chromatic richness of the original oleograph
• Finish: Non-glare museum matte finish
• Ideal For: Maratha tradition devotees, Maharashtra heritage collectors, Indian history enthusiasts, collectors of Ravi Varma Press works, home and office spaces, and anyone who wishes to bring the most celebrated portrait of the greatest Maratha king into their space

Why You'll Love It

Historically stirring and compositionally dynamic - the Ravi Varma Press Shivaji is the most celebrated and most universally recognized portrait of the Chhatrapati in the entire Indian print tradition, an oleograph whose accuracy to the king's essential character was immediately recognized by the Maratha people despite being produced by a painter who knew Shivaji only through the living memory of his legendary exploits.

Order Now

Bring home Chhatrapati Shivaji - the Ravi Varma Press's 1890 masterwork of Maharashtra's greatest warrior king, available as an 18 × 24 inch museum-grade archival print, with framed and unframed options, exclusively at The Soma Store.