Sultan Murad and a Consort

Maker(s)
Artist: Attributed here to Manohar (active 1582ā€“ca. 1624)
Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Akbar, ca. 1597
Movement
Mughal Court
School
Mughal School
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 17.2 x 9.8 cm (6 3/4 x 3 7/8 in)
Geography
India
Credit Line
Purchase ā€” Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1929.80
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Painting

Keywords
India, lovers, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605)
Provenance

To 1929
Kirkor Minassian, New York to 1929 [1]

From 1929
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Kirkor Minassian, New York in 1929 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Kirkor Minassian 1874-1944

Label

This image is an unusually intimate portrait of royal lovers reclining in a garden setting. It portrays Prince Murad, the intellectually inclined second son of Mughal emperor Akbar, together with his beloved young wife, Mirza, daughter of Akbar's foster brother. Since Mughal artists aimed for verisimilitude, we may assume that Mirza was a dark-haired, slender figure with a sharp nose and pointed chin. However, the seclusion of women within the zenana (women's chambers) suggests that the artist may have based his portrait on verbal descriptions.

Published References
  • Fredrik Robert Martin. The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India, and Turkey from the 8th to the 18th Century. 2 vols., London. vol. 2: pl. 201.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court., 2nd ed. Washington and Ahmedabad, India, 2012. cat. 29, p. 156.
  • Stephen Frederic Dale. The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals., 1st ed. New York and Cambridge. p. 175, fig. 8.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court. Exh. cat. Washington, 1981. cat. 22, pp. 195-196.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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