Emperor Jahangir Embraces Shah Abbas

Maker(s)
Artist: Abu'l Hasan (born 1588 or 1589)
Borders: Muhammad Sadiq
Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Jahangir, ca. 1618; margins 1747–48
Movement
Mughal Court
School
Mughal School
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink, silver and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 23.8 x 15.4 cm (9 3/8 x 6 1/16 in)
Geography
India
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1945.9a
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Album leaf with painting

Keywords
emperor, globe, halo, India, lion, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627), shah
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

This brilliantly executed painting from the St. Petersburg album is one of several allegorical representations of Jahangir by Abu'l Hasan, one of the finest painters of the imperial atelier.

The radiant and powerful Jahangir is depicted comforting his meek, submissive cousin, Shah Abbas of Iran. This has nothing to do with historical fact, however, and is pure wish-fulfillment on Jahangir's part. The rulers were intense rivals, the focus of their mutual antagonism centering on Qandahar, in Afghanistan, a territory and fortress under Mughal control. (See also F1942.16a)

Published References
  • Yale University Press. God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth: Light in Islamic Art and Culture. Virginia. .
  • Barbara Schmitz. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court. vol. 28, no. 1, Spring 1982. fig. 5.
  • Smith College Museum of Art. The Way I Remember Them: Paintings by Nusra Latif Qureshi. Exh. cat. fig. 2.
  • Shanti Swarup. Flora and Fauna in Mughal Art. Bombay. ill. 75.
  • Sumanthi Ramaswamy. The Conceit of the Globe in Mughal Visual Practice. vol. 49, no. 14 Cambridge, England, October 2007. .
  • Richard Ettinghausen. Paintings of the Sultans and Emperors of India in American Collections. Lalit Kala Series of Indian Art New Delhi. pl. 12.
  • Oleg Grabar. Masterpieces of Islamic Art: The Decorated Page from the 8th to the 17th Century., English ed. New York. .
  • Instanbul, Isfahan, Delhi: Three Capitals of Islamic Art: Masterpieces from the Louvre Collection. Exh. cat. Istanbul. p. 30.
  • Pierre Singaravélou, Fabrice Argounès. Mapping the World: Perspectives from Asian Cartography. Exh. cat. Singapore, 2021. p. 31.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court. Exh. cat. Washington, 1981. cat. 17b, pp. 31,74,169-70.
  • Francis Richard. Le Siecle d'Ispahan. Decouvertes Gallimard Paris. p. 42.
  • Calendar of Exhibitions. vol. 16, no. 4 Hong Kong, April 1985. p. 56.
  • Christiane Gruber. Moon: A Voyage Through Time. Toronto, Ontario. p.58, fig. 4.
  • Amina Taha Hussein-Okada. "La peinture en Inde." Painting in India. Sentiers d'Art Paris, France. p. 60.
  • Francis Robinson. Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500. Oxford. p. 65r.
  • Regula Argast. Menschen in Zeit und Raum. 4 vols. (6-9), , textbook with CDROM. Buchs, Switzerland, 2005 - 2008. p. 73, fig. 54.
  • , Catherine Hofmann, François Nawrocki. Le Monde en Sphères. Exh. cat. Paris, France, April 11, 2019. p. 78, fig. 47.
  • Allysa Browne Peyton. Orientations Vol. 46 No. 1. Hong Kong. p. 78.
  • Jos Gommans. The Unseen World: India and The Netherlands from 1550. Nijmegen, Netherlands. p. 108, fig. 2.7.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court., 2nd ed. Washington and Ahmedabad, India, 2012. cat. 22A, pp. 123-4, p.142, fig. 41.
  • Susan Stronge. Indian Painting: Themes, History and Interpretations: Essays in Honour of B.N. Goswamy. Ahmedabad. pp. 125-135, fig. 9.4.
  • Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th & 17th Centuries. Exh. cat. Washington, 2007. P-67, p. 136.
  • Catherine B. Asher, Cynthia Talbot. India Before Europe. New York. p. 157.
  • (Forward) Milo Cleveland Beach. The Magnificent Mughals. New York. p. 168, fig. 29.
  • Thomas Lawton, Thomas W. Lentz. Beyond the Legacy: Anniversary Acquisitions for the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. vol. 1 Washington, 1998. p. 186, fig. 1.
  • Hugo Miguel Crespo. Diamonds Across Time: Facets of Mankind. London, February 1, 2021. p. 205, fig. 20.
  • A. Azfar Moin. The Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship & Sainthood in Islam. p. 205.
  • Dr. Esin Atil, W. Thomas Chase, Paul Jett. Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington, 1985. pp. 222-223, fig. 72.
  • Body City: Siting Contemporary Culture in India. Delhi and Berlin. p. 226, fig. 2.
  • Emmanuelle Vagnon, Éric Vallet. "La Fabrique de l'Océan Indien: Cartes d'Orient et d'Occident (Antiquité-XVIe siècle)." The Indian Ocean Factory: Maps of Orient and Occident (Antiquity-XVIth century). Paris, France. pp. 290-291.
  • Thomas W. Lentz, Glenn D. Lowry. Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century. Exh. cat. Los Angeles. p. 323, fig. 110.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Gulshan Album and the Workshops of Prince Salim. vol. 73, no. 2 Zurich. pp. 429-77, fig. 3.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Worlds within Worlds: Imperial Paintings from India and Iran
Google Cultural Institute
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