The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
A blindfolded suitor is brought before a princess; verso: scrolling floral vines
1755
(Indian, active c. 1730–1765)
Location: not on view
Description
In a scene set on a carpeted terrace in the women’s palace quarters, an older woman of the harem drags a young prince with a white blindfold over his eyes before a princess grasping a document. Such a scene evokes a literary allusion of a princess who selects her suitor, but it also resonates with circumstances at the Mughal court. Signed and dated by the artist, this painting was completed at a time when powerful women wielded control over the emperor, and Ahmad Shah Bahadur (reigned 1748–54), son and successor of Muhammad Shah, had been blinded and deposed less than one year before.- 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. 80, p. 263-66.
- {{cite web|title=A blindfolded suitor is brought before a princess; verso: scrolling floral vines|url=false|author=Fayzullah|year=1755|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.343