Artwork Page for A mendicant bowing before a holy man, from the Prince Salim Album

Details / Information for A mendicant bowing before a holy man, from the Prince Salim Album

A mendicant bowing before a holy man, from the Prince Salim Album

c. 1585; inner border added in Allahabad c. 1602; outer border added probably 1900s
This object has related works. See

Basavana

(Indian, active c. 1560–1600)
Culture
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Measurements
Page: 32.7 x 21.1 cm (12 7/8 x 8 5/16 in.); Painting: 13.6 x 7.5 cm (5 3/8 x 2 15/16 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 2013.296
Public Domain
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Location
242B Indian Painting
Print
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Did You Know?

The dog stares hungrily at the mendicant’s alms bowl, with the artist’s signature.

Description

As the Mughal atelier grew into the 1580s, Indian artists become increasingly adept at incorporating Persian styles with a new dimensionality and naturalism that Akbar promoted, possibly based on his appreciation of European prints and paintings. Here, a sincere holy man wears robes tinged lightly with blue. He stands beneath a tree in the wilderness with a loyal jackal by his side. A devotee touches his head to his feet. The artist’s tiny signature is written on the alms bowl. Connoisseurs of Persian art in the Islamic world praised an artist’s virtuoso ability to work on a microscopic scale.
Vertically oriented painting depicting a man kneeling and touching his head to the feet of another man, standing in a faintly blue tunic and holding an open book. A tree with faintly green leaves arcs behind him in front of a rocky, brown landscape. In the lower right a jackal-like animal stares at a bowl by kneeling man, painted with a signature, more Persian text above the scene (see "Inscription"). Floral shapes border the scene.

A mendicant bowing before a holy man, from the Prince Salim Album

c. 1585; inner border added in Allahabad c. 1602; outer border added probably 1900s

Basavana

(Indian, active c. 1560–1600)
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

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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