Unknown
Illustration of an Allegorical Tale (?)circa 1850

Not on view

Mughal-style miniature painting of three figures and a white goat in a riverine landscape with trees and distant walled architecture, in ochre-bordered mat

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Illustration of an Allegorical Tale (?)
Place Made: India, Delhi, Mughal Empire
Date Made: circa 1850
Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions: Image: 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (23.5 x 16.51 cm); Sheet: 12 x 10 1/4 in. (30.48 x 26.04 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jane Greenough Green in memory of Edward Pelton Green
Accession Number: AC1999.127.15
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Although a specific event or literary source has not been conclusively identified, it has been suggested that this painting depicts the shepherd Joseph, a prophet mentioned in the Qur’an who corresponds to Joseph (son of Jacob and Rachel) in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. Regardless of the specific subject, this late Mughal painting should be contextualized within the literary and artistic renaissance of mid-19th century South Asia. The devastating invasions, political coups, and ineffectual emperors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries had led to the collapse of a central Mughal power. These dire events inspired a reinterpretation of Persian literature that imbued traditional symbols with a sense of melancholy and a nostalgia for the stability and grandeur associated with the Mughal dynasty at its zenith.

Here, a young nobleman in a sumptuous coat (perhaps Joseph’s legendary variegated coat) is shown herding a ram that has stopped to graze. A soldier observes the pastoral incident and brandishes his spear. A bearded scholar appears to be disdainfully ignoring the scene while drinking wine. The diminishing perspective, distant cityscapes, and gradated atmospheric treatment were assimilated into the Mughal visual vocabulary from European prints and paintings that were presented to the court as early as the mid-16th century.

Unknown
Illustration of an Allegorical Tale (?)circa 1850

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Illustration of an Allegorical Tale (?)
Place Made: India, Delhi, Mughal Empire
Date Made: circa 1850
Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions: Image: 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (23.5 x 16.51 cm); Sheet: 12 x 10 1/4 in. (30.48 x 26.04 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jane Greenough Green in memory of Edward Pelton Green
Accession Number: AC1999.127.15
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Although a specific event or literary source has not been conclusively identified, it has been suggested that this painting depicts the shepherd Joseph, a prophet mentioned in the Qur’an who corresponds to Joseph (son of Jacob and Rachel) in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. Regardless of the specific subject, this late Mughal painting should be contextualized within the literary and artistic renaissance of mid-19th century South Asia. The devastating invasions, political coups, and ineffectual emperors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries had led to the collapse of a central Mughal power. These dire events inspired a reinterpretation of Persian literature that imbued traditional symbols with a sense of melancholy and a nostalgia for the stability and grandeur associated with the Mughal dynasty at its zenith.

Here, a young nobleman in a sumptuous coat (perhaps Joseph’s legendary variegated coat) is shown herding a ram that has stopped to graze. A soldier observes the pastoral incident and brandishes his spear. A bearded scholar appears to be disdainfully ignoring the scene while drinking wine. The diminishing perspective, distant cityscapes, and gradated atmospheric treatment were assimilated into the Mughal visual vocabulary from European prints and paintings that were presented to the court as early as the mid-16th century.