The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

European Costume Scene

c. 1590–1595

India, Mughal Dynasty

(1526-1756)
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Image: 21.5 x 13.4 cm (8 7/16 x 5 1/4 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1971.89
Location: Not on view

Description

This painting of European subjects by an unnamed Indian artist depicts an unidentified scene in which two merchants approach a pavilion where a seated lady receives a kneeling holy man unrolling a scroll before her. The figures wear garments associated with different periods, which increases the painting’s ambiguity. The distant cityscape in the upper left corner is a Mughal version of the type introduced into India by Jesuit missionaries who brought gifts of European paintings and engravings.
  • ?–1971
    (John D. MacDonald, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1971–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2016. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2016-April 10, 2017).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-August 18, 2004).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 4-August 5, 2003.)
  • {{cite web|title=European Costume Scene|url=false|author=|year=c. 1590–1595|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.89