Lovers parting, page from a book of fables

c. 1590–95

Northern India, Mughal court, 16th century

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Medium

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Measurements

Page: 36.1 x 24.8 cm (14 3/16 x 9 3/4 in.); Painting: 24 x 12 cm (9 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.303

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Location

Not on view

Description

The lovers have met in a remote wilderness location, away from the city shown in the distance. However, their affair has run its course, and they decide to part ways, each walking in opposite directions through an ominous landscape, where strange rock formations and an oversized serpent-slain by foxes gnawing on its innards-lend a sense of foreboding. As Mughal court painting developed into the last decades of the 16th century, artists began using increasingly muted colors and gentler shading techniques than they did in the more robust Adventures of Hamza at the left. The omission of a light source and shadows adds to a timeless, otherworldly impression to the landscape.