An Indian painter from the princely state of Travancore who achieved recognition for his depiction of scenes from the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. His paintings are considered to be among the best examples of the fusion of Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art. His exposure in the west came when he won the first prize in the Vienna Art Exhibition in 1873. Raja Ravi Varma received widespread acclaim after he won an award for an exhibition of his paintings at Vienna in 1873. Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings were awarded two gold medals at the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. Ravi Varma’s representation of mythological characters has become a part of the Indian imagination of the epics. In 1904 Viceroy Lord Curzon, on behalf of the King Emperor bestowed upon Raja Ravi Varma the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal.