The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Circumcision ceremony for Akbar’s sons, painting 126 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602)

Circumcision ceremony for Akbar’s sons, painting 126 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602)

c. 1602–3

attributed to Dharam Das

(Indian, active c. 1580–1605)
Image: 22.9 x 12.1 cm (9 x 4 3/4 in.); Sheet with border: 34.7 x 22.5 cm (13 11/16 x 8 7/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

An attendant strokes Akbar’s hunting falcon, perched on a glove.

Description

This page is from a copy of the biography of Akbar that was completed not long before his death in 1605. It depicts him much younger, during the festivities held on October 22, 1573, in his newly built capital city of Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, on the occasion of the circumcision ceremony for his three young sons. Dancers in Chaghatai Turkish dress perform as Akbar’s weight in gold is being distributed to the poor. Akbar wears a simple white tunic, or jama, stained at the armpits by aromatic musk. A curved dagger in a red velvet sheath is tucked into his golden sash, and he is crowned with a white crested turban.
  • by 1959–1976
    (John D. MacDonald, Manchester, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1976–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Welch, Stuart C. “Early Mughal Miniature Paintings from Two Private Collections Shown at the Fogg Art Museum.” Ars Orientalis, vol. 3, 1959, pp. 133–146. Reproduced: plate 8, fig. 19 4629103
    Welch, Stuart C. “Early Mughal Miniature Paintings from Two Private Collections Shown at the Fogg Art Museum.” Ars Orientalis, vol. 3, 1959, pp. 133–146. Reproduced: plate 8, fig. 12 4629103
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Reproduced: cat. no. 18i
    Czuma, Stanislaw J., "Eternal Rhythms", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 36 no. 08, October 1996 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 9 archive.org
    Masselos, Jim, Jackie Menzies, Pratapaditya Pal, and Reis Wenger Flora. Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art. Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997. Reproduced: cat. no.146 p. 238-241
    McGill, Forrest. Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in the Arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan Region. San Francisco, CA: Asian Art Museum, 2022. Mentioned andReproduced: pp. 210–211, no. 88
  • Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (November 11, 2022-February 5, 2023) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (March 31-July 10, 2023) https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/.
    Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 13, 2003-February 18, 2004).
    Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art . Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (organizer) (June 12-August 24, 1997).
    Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-December 8, 1996).
  • {{cite web|title=Circumcision ceremony for Akbar’s sons, painting 126 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602)|url=false|author=Dharam Das|year=c. 1602–3|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.76