The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Vertically oriented painting depicting people with light to medium-light skin tones in the foregrounded palace and background battlefield. Topless women swim in a square pool in the center, surrounded by a symmetrical, multi-level palace adorned with primarily yellow, orange, and blue patterns and flowerbeds. Receding into the background, a horizontally running river with boats divides the palace from fields with rows of people bearing weapons. Upper center, an ombre blue circle cuts into the scene.

Women bathing before an architectural panorama

c. 1765

Fayzullah

(Indian, active c. 1730–1765)
India, Lucknow, Mughal
Gum tempera and gold on paper
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 2013.344
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The artist signed his name below the king’s seat that overlooks the garden vista.

Description

Despite the wars waged and forts besieged in the background, life in the palace is carefree and luxurious. Some women enjoy hookahs and music on balconies, while others swim and drink liquor with abandon from Chinese porcelain cups and bottles. The artist has placed his name under the central pavilion, observing the scene across a formal garden of marigolds. The artist seems to have enjoyed experimenting with the idea of perspective, learned from European sources. He created a rapidly receding space that telescopes the view from the intimate harem quarters to the distant battlefields.
  • February 28, 1974
    (Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Oriental Miniatures, Fine Books, Autographs, 28 February 1974, lot 131)
    April 11, 1989
    (Christie’s, London, Important Islamic, Indian and Southeast Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures and Works of Art, 11 April 1989, lot 94)
    1989–2001
    Ralph Benkaim [1914–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA
    2001–2013
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2013–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Ellcock, Stephen. The Book of Change: Images to Inspire Revelations and Revolutions. London: September Publishing, 2021. Reproduced: p. 105
    Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. 91, pp. 284, 286, and 288
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Imagining the Garden. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24, 2015-March 6, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Women bathing before an architectural panorama|url=false|author=Fayzullah|year=c. 1765|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.344