gouache with gold on paper, the lion avatar seated in front of the broken pillar attacking the prostrate king, while his son, Prahlada, looks on, a line of devanagari script on the reverse, 18 x 14.5cm (image)

Hiranyakashipu, personifying ignorance, hated Vishnu, even though his son, Prahlada, was a devotee. Prahlada told him that Vishnu was everwhere, even in the nearby pillar. The father kicked the pillar and Vishnu burst out, taking the form of Narasimha, and ripped out his innards.