The Ramayana (Tales of Rama; The Freer Ramayana), Volume 1

View right to left

Maker(s)
Artist: Syama Sundara Kala Pahara Kamal Mohan Mushfiq Nadim Nadir Qasim Sadi (active 16th century) Shyam Sundar Yusuf 'Ali Zayn al'-'Abidin Ghulam 'Ali Fazi
Patron: Abd al-Rahim
Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Akbar, 1597-1605
Movement
Mughal Court
School
Mughal School
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, in modern bindings
Dimensions
H x W: 27.5 x 15.2 cm (10 13/16 x 6 in)
Geography
Northern India
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1907.271.1-172
On View Location
Freer Gallery 01: Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
abduction, apsara, ascetic, ashram, Bharata, boat, Brahma, cave, cow, cremation, Dasharatha, death, deer, demon, funeral, Hanuman, hermitage, illustrated, India, Indra, Janaka, Kaikeyi, Krishna, Kusha, Lakshmana, Lava, mourning, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), priest, Rama, Ramayana, Ravana, Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605), sacrifice, sage, seal, Shiva, Vishvamitra
Provenance

To 1907
Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), London, to 1907 [1]

From 1907 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna in 1907 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] Purchased with the Hanna Collection in 1907. See Original Catalogue of the Hanna Sale: Manuscripts I, S.I. 1583, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also "Miscellaneous" volume of Freer House Catalogue, pgs. 167-183.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (C.L. Freer source) 1839-1914
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Published References
  • Amy S. Landau. Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts. Exh. cat. Seattle. 5.10, p. 158.
  • Barbara Schmitz. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court. vol. 28, no. 1, Spring 1982. fig. 2.
  • John Seyller. Workshop and Patron in Mughal India: The Freer Ramayana and Other Illustrated Manuscripts of 'Abd al-Rahim. Supplementum 42, Zürich and Washington. .
  • P. Banerjee. Rama in Indian Literature, Art and Thought. 2 vols., Delhi. vol. 2: fig. 12.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Adventures of Rama: with Illustrations from a Sixteenth-Century Mughal Manuscript. Washington, 1983. .
  • Anis Farooqi. Art of India and Persia. New Delhi. pls. 52, 53.
  • Richard Ettinghausen. Paintings of the Sultans and Emperors of India in American Collections. Lalit Kala Series of Indian Art New Delhi. pls. 3-4.
  • Vishakha Nirubhai Desai. Connoisseur's Delights: Early "Rasikapriya" Paintings of India. 2 vols. Ann Arbor. pl. 36.
  • V. A. Smith. Colonel H.B. Hanna's Collection of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts. Bombay, June 1910. .
  • Catalogue of Indo - Persian Pictures and Manuscripts: Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by Colonel H.B. Hanna. Exh. cat. London, May 1890. .
  • Sir Thomas W. Arnold. The Library of A. Chester Beatty: A Catalogue of the Indian Miniatures. 3 vols. London. p. 27.
  • Konrad Seitz. Origins of Orchha Painting: Orchha, Datia, Panna: Miniatures from the Royal Courts of Bundelkhand (1590–1850). 1, New Delhi, 2022. p. 50, fig. 9.
  • Veronica Ions. Indian Mythology. London. p. 53.
  • Wendy Doniger. "Horses in Indian Myth and History." Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares. Richard Series Charlottesville, Virginia, April 27, 2021. p. 57, fig. 10.
  • Charles Le Brun, Alain Danielou. Le Ramayana. Mystiques et Religions Paris. pp. 80-81.
  • Marianna Shreve Simpson, Olga Davidson. Ferdowsi's Shahnama. p. 92.
  • Mario Bussagli. Indian Miniatures. London and New York. pp. 102-103, 105-106, 110, pls. 45-49.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. pp. 126-127, fig. 87.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court. Exh. cat. Washington, 1981. cat. 15, p. 135.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. Colonel Hanna's Indian Paintings. vol. 118, no. 258 London, August 1983. pp. 154-159, figs. 4, 5.
  • Peoples and Places of the Past: The National Geographic Illustrated Cultural Atlas of the Ancient World. Washington. p. 207.
  • Sheila Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800. Yale University Press Pelican History of Art London. pp. 293-294, fig. 370.
  • Edwards Park. Treasures from the Smithsonian Institution., 1st ed. Washington and New York. p. 350.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery welcome information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

citation | Save this image How to download an image | Terms of Use

Related Objects