FACT CHECK: Viral image of a woman with a toddler is not a painting by “Ravi Varma”

An image of a woman clad in traditional Indian finery, holding a toddler in her arms, is going viral with the claim that it is not a photograph, but, is actually a painting by the artist “Ravi Varma”[sic]. 

The woman in the image is wearing a red saree with golden jewellery and her hair is tied with flowers. She is seen holding a toddler in her arms and the toddler is dressed in a dhoti and has a peacock feather in his hair. 

The same image was also shared on our 24×7 Factline number 904 905 3770 with a request to verify the information. Archived Link

Fact Crescendo found that the information is False. The image is actually a photograph clicked by a photographer. 

Fact Check Methodology

At first, we examined the image closely. We saw that the image has a logo NM Clicks on the lower half of it. We searched on Google for NM Clicks and came across an Instagram profile with the same name with this description: 

“Photographer

📸Wedding | Newborn | Maternity | Baby | Events.”

We scrolled through the images in it and saw that the same image was uploaded on the Instagram Profile as well as their Facebook Page on August 30, 2021. 

Here is the image. 

Instagram Post | Archived Link
Facebook Post | Archived Link

Here is a comparison between the two images. The viral image has the same composition, same get up, same faces and the same logo. 

Following this, we reached out to NM Clicks, located at Bengaluru, Karnataka. On being asked about this image, Janani Govind, the Creative head of the team reverted saying that they had uploaded the same image during the festival of Janmasthami in 2021 and they have also come to know that this image is going viral with the false claim that it is actually a painting by Raja Ravi Varma. 

Conclusion

The claim that the viral image is a painting by “Ravi Varma”[sic] is False. The image is actually a photograph clicked by a team NM Clicks from Bengaluru who had uploaded the original image on their official social media handles in August 2021.