The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

The game of wolf-running in Tabriz, from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar)

The game of wolf-running in Tabriz, from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar)

c. 1595–1600
(Indian, active 1550s-1590s)
Page: 35.2 x 23.8 cm (13 7/8 x 9 3/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

During extreme activities, turbans could come unwound and fall off.

Description

After four years of traveling in exile, fleeing Afghan forces, Humayun reached Tabriz, the glittering capital of the Safavid dynasty in northwestern Iran, here imaginatively rendered by the Indian artist. There the second Mughal emperor enjoyed warm hospitality extended by the shah of Iran, who called for a game of wolf-running for which the city was famous. Artists painting during the time of Akbar, late in his reign when historical subjects dominated, speculated as to how the game was played, based on eyewitness accounts. They gave the figures lively emotive expressions and gestures, and the dense crowding successfully conveys the pandemonium of the scene.
  • Private Collection, London
  • "Art of Asia Acquired by North American Museums, 2003-2004." Archives of Asian Art 56 (2006): pp. 109-32. Reproduced: p. 113, fig. 7 www.jstor.org
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); July 2, 2014 -
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115); August 13, 2003 - February 18, 2004.
  • {{cite web|title=The game of wolf-running in Tabriz, from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar)|url=false|author=Banavari 1|year=c. 1595–1600|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.38