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A blindfolded suitor is brought before a princess; verso: scrolling floral vines

1755

Fayzullah

(Indian, active c. 1730–1765)
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Culture
India, Lucknow, Mughal, 18th century
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
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 2013.343
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

In a scene set on a carpeted terrace in the women’s palace quarters, an older woman of the harem drags a young prince with a white blindfold over his eyes before a princess grasping a document. Such a scene evokes a literary allusion of a princess who selects her suitor, but it also resonates with circumstances at the Mughal court. Signed and dated by the artist, this painting was completed at a time when powerful women wielded control over the emperor, and Ahmad Shah Bahadur (reigned 1748–54), son and successor of Muhammad Shah, had been blinded and deposed less than one year before.
A horizontally oriented gum tempera and gold painting depicts people with light skin tones on a palace terrace. From our left, a woman in orange holds a document, flanked by two attendants. A blindfolded man with a bow is guided toward her by a woman in yellow, followed by two more attendants. A square fountain sits in the foreground. Behind them, boats travel a river before a distant city under an orange and gray sky.

A blindfolded suitor is brought before a princess; verso: scrolling floral vines

1755

Fayzullah

(Indian, active c. 1730–1765)
India, Lucknow, Mughal, 18th century

See Also

  • Collection
    Indian
  • Department
    Indian and Southeast Asian Art
  • Type of artwork
    Painting
  • Medium
    Tempera
  • 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

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