Artwork Page for Alamshah cleaving asunder the chain of the wheel, from volume 11 of a Hamza-nama (Adventures of Hamza)

Details / Information for Alamshah cleaving asunder the chain of the wheel, from volume 11 of a Hamza-nama (Adventures of Hamza)

Alamshah cleaving asunder the chain of the wheel, from volume 11 of a Hamza-nama (Adventures of Hamza)

c. 1560s–70s

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on cotton and paper
Measurements
Page: 83.7 x 67 cm (32 15/16 x 26 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of George P. Bickford 1976.74
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
242B Indian Painting
Print
?

Did You Know?

The title in the bottom margin is a continuation of the text on the previous page.

Description

The hero, Alamshah the Greek, perches on a cliff above a rushing torrent of water. He has just slain the villain who raised the massive bronze plug on the dam in order to wash away the camp of Alamshah’s father, Hamza.

The Hamza-nama recounts the adventures of an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed. It was the first major undertaking of the fledgling painting workshop created by Akbar. Originally in 14 volumes of 100 illustrations each, just a little more than 10 percent of the pages survive.
Vertically oriented book page illustrating water flowing over muted blue, peach, purple, and green rocks towards people with light to medium-light skin tones and camels on the banks. In the water swim an ox, horse, and person. Atop the rocks, right of the waterfall, stands Alamshah, a man with light skin tone, sword raised. Opposite the rocks, another with light skin tone lies upside down, blood dripping from a horizontal gash on his chest and a wheel with a chain connecting to a round, dark brown plug above him.

Alamshah cleaving asunder the chain of the wheel, from volume 11 of a Hamza-nama (Adventures of Hamza)

c. 1560s–70s

Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.