The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 17, 2026

A vertically oriented tempera painting depicts a prince seated in a decorated pavilion atop a composite elephant, floating against the cream-colored paper background. The creature's body consists of interlocking people and animals forming its massive shape. Two attendants flank the pavilion; one holds a hook. Ornate blue borders, embellished with gold floral patterns and Persian script, frame the scene. The figures' light skin tones contrast with the vibrant pavilion and borders.

A prince riding a composite elephant

c. 1590

India, Golconda, Deccan, 16th century

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Page: 28.8 x 18.6 cm (11 5/16 x 7 5/16 in.); Painting: 14.5 x 11 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
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 2013.282
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Two lions share one head at the top of the elephant’s head.

Description

A prince sits cross-legged in a covered howdah seat secured to the back of a royal elephant with golden rings on its tusks. The elephant is being driven by attendants, one of whom holds a goad. Artists in the southern Indian region known as the Deccan expanded upon Persian practices of embedding creatures in landscape scenes—like a visual double-entendre—and created inventive images of composite creatures made up of figures that invite extended close looking. This painting would have been mounted in an album that was brought out for entertainment in elite intimate gatherings.
  • Eappen, Omana. "Bagh-i-Nauras and the Aesthetics of Well-Being." In Rethinking Comparative Aesthetics in a Contemporary Frame, edited by R. N. Misra, and Parul Dave-Mukherji, 273–326. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2019. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 296–298, fig. 26
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (7/31/2016-10/23/2016); Art and Stories from Mughal India, cat. 15, p. 225.
  • {{cite web|title=A prince riding a composite elephant|url=false|author=|year=c. 1590|access-date=17 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.282