Which sage is Rama and Lakshmana following in the shown painting?

The correct answer is option 4: Vishvamitra

Rama and Lakshmana are following sage Vishvamitra to the forest.

A painting from the Shangri Ramayana set depicts Rama and Lakshmana accompanying sage Vishvamitra to the forest to defeat the demons, who would distress the hermits by disturbing their meditative practices and contaminating their rituals. An interesting feature of this painting is the representation of animals, stealthily prowling behind trees, half hidden in the heavy outgrowth. A clever fragmentary portrayal of a wolf on the left and a tiger on the right by the artist not only lends character to the forest as a thick impenetrable jungle, populated with ferocious animals hiding everywhere, but also adds an emotive value to the painting regarding the extraordinary courage of the two young princes. The fractional representation of animals adds mystery to the work as there is a possibility of them being demons in disguise.