Shah Jahan Muraqqa

This Shah Jahan portrait is from the Shah Jahan Album or the Emperor’s album. Western provenance also describes this as the Kevorkian Album, after an Armenian-American private collector. The album features fifty illustrated and calligraphy folios, forty-one of which are in custody of the Metropolitan Museum, and nine reside in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art. This spectacular album, contains intimate nature studies, portraits of the royal family, various dignitaries, and fine examples of illuminated folios of calligraphy by renowned calligraphers. The album offers a glimpse into the courtly life and diverse interests of its patrons. The album was initiated by Emperor Jahangir and passed onto his son Shah Jahan who added several paintings, illuminations, and calligraphy folios. It eventually came into the possession of Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb who perhaps added little to the album. Alamgir’s seal on one folio confirms that he was once the owner. Later Mughals continued to add more folios to the album until the 19th century. The present work shows Emperor Shah Jahan standing with a bejewelled and enamelled object in his hand. At the bottom of the folio we see two figures who seems to be craftsmen or attendants showing the pieces to the Emperor from his personal collection. The artist Bichitr, a brilliant young student of the artist Abu'l Hasan who became one of Shah Jahan's leading court artists was a prolific and all-encompassing painter capable of capturing a vast spectrum of complex subjects and elements. He served under two great Emperors Jehangir and Shahjahan and perhaps even under Alamgir. Influenced by his studies of European artworks, Bichtr incorporated figures with shadows, Western perspective, and putti (cherubs or angels) into his work. His technically refined portraiture and ability to render hands won him the respect of the Emperors. As a portraitist and a commemorator of great occasions, Bichitr’s cold perfectionism and brilliant shadow techniques are a magnificent reflection of his own place and time, despite his strong European influences. Like many artists in the Mughal court, Bichitr too was of the Hindu faith.

Museum Grade Canvas

Museum grade 370 GSM Canvas by Hahnemuhle

Matt-coated inkjet canvas | poly - cotton fabric | 370 gsm | Natural white | Zero artificial optical brighteners | Acid and lignin free | Museum quality for highest age resistance

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Premium Age Resistant Art Paper – 200 GSM

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