Inspiration is like a muse—it opens the floodgates of creativity, and opportunity. Manu S Pillai-s first historical tome, The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore 2016, may have been populated with the stories of many a maharaja and maharani, but the Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer found a stimulus in Raja Ravi Varma, the legendary master painter, who was a close member of Travancore royals and whose granddaughters had been adopted by the family. Varma, he shares, was a recurring figure during his research. "When I interviewed different members of the Travancore royal family, I often saw original canvases of his on their walls," Pillai recalls. It was only fitting then, that he opened that book with Varma-s story. That, however, was just the beginning of Pillai-s "long relationship with Varma-s work".

His new book, The World of Raja Ravi Varma: Princes and Patrons, a visual archive that will have an online release on April 29, puts the painter and his portraits at the centre of his research. The coffee table book will comprise several dozens of portraits ascribed to Varma, including some rare, previously unseen and relatively obscure ones from his family circles. In a first, Pillai will also be examining Varma-s impetus for painting these diverse groups of people.