Works on view in the stairwell gallery demonstrate the unique union of music and illustration in India in the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Ragamala means "a garland of musical modes" in the Sanskrit language. This garland of modes, or collection of melodies, is divided into ragas (literally, "something that colors the mind with a particular feeling or emotion"). Ragamala paintings, in which ragas were depicted as humans and gods in dramatic situations, provide a window into the history of painting, iconography, and music in India.
