The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 20, 2026

A vertically oriented gum tempera and gold painting depicts a hunt in a verdant, hilly landscape. Three men with medium skin tones in tunics and turbans occupy the periphery. At our left, one holds a staff, while another at our right raises a whip. Near the center, a collared cheetah pounces on a dark antelope. Below, a gray buck and spotted deer gallop across the foreground. Hazy, purple-hued rocky hills rise behind.

Antelope and deer hunt

c. 1602–4

Govardhan

(Indian, active c.1596–1645)
Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim (1569–1627)
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Image: 20 x 11.8 cm (7 7/8 x 4 5/8 in.); Overall: 37 x 25.3 cm (14 9/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1939.66
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The gray antelope in the foreground is called a nilgai and is the largest antelope in Asia.

Description

The Mughals used trained cheetahs, such as this one wearing a red collar, to capture prey during hunting expeditions in the wilderness. The metaphor of the hunt was also a potent image in Persian literature, in which the protagonist finally achieves a desired goal. The central image of the cheetah catching the black buck—a frequently repeated visual trope—resonates with the desire of Prince Salim (who was passionate about hunting) to capture the throne of the Mughal Empire from Akbar, his father. Between 1600 and 1605, when Prince Salim set up his own royal court in defiance of his father, he convinced some imperial artists to join him. The young Govardhan, a Hindu who would go on to achieve high stature in the atelier of the next two emperors, was one of them.
  • ?–1939
    (Wells Objects of Art, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1939–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hollis, Howard. "Two Mughal Miniatures." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 27, no. 6 (June 1940): 91–92, 94–97. Reproduced: p. 95; Mentioned: p. 97 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 778 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 237 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 237 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 305 archive.org
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. cat. no. 19
    Beach, Milo Cleveland, Eberhard Fischer, B. N. Goswamy, Jorrit Britschgi, Museum Rietberg, and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). Masters of Indian Painting. [Zurich, Switzerland]: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 2011. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 138, fig. 20; p. 144, fig. 9
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 2, 2014-January 5, 2015).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 18, 2004-May 23, 2005).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 13, 2003-February 18, 2004).
    Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Sport in Art: From American Collections Assembled for an Olympic Year (15 November-15 December, 1955); traveled to Washington, D. C., Corcoran Gallery of Art, (5-30 January, 1956); to Louisville, J. B. Speed Art Museum, (14 February-10 March, 1956); to Dallas, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (25 March-20 April, 1956); to Denver, Denver Art Museum (5-30 May, 1956); San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, (28 July-26 August 1956); intended for Melbourne, Australia, Olympic Games, but this stop was cancelled.
    East Indian Art. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (February 10-March 29, 1942).
  • {{cite web|title=Antelope and deer hunt|url=false|author=Govardhan|year=c. 1602–4|access-date=20 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1939.66