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An image of Prince Salim returning from a hunt by

Unknown Artist

Title
Prince Salim returning from a hunt
Other titles:
The Emperor Jehangir returning from a hunt
The Emperor Jahangir returning from a hunt
Place of origin
North India → India
Cultural origin
Imperial Mughal
Period
Mughal Empire circa 1526 - 1857 → India
Year
1602-1603
Media categories
Miniature, Painting, Watercolour
Materials used
opaque watercolour with gold on paper
Dimensions

19.7 x 11.2cm image; 22.8 x 15.9cm sheet

Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Bequest of Miss G. Griffith 1968
Accession number
EP1.1968
Location
Not on display
Further information

The Emperor Jehangir (reigned 1605-27) was, like his father Akbar, a great patron of the arts. Under their enlightened and spirited rule Mughal India embraced the cosmopolitan influence of Persian, European and Indian styles, all of which are to be seen in this image of Jehangir astride an elephant, surveying the scene of his hunting triumphs. The narrative is captured in the jewel-like detail, the bright and engaging colours, the delicate strokes and the delight in beauty. In the more distant reaches of the painting a leopard savages its prey amid green rolling hills, with part of the emperor's retinue visible on the right. The centre is dominated by Jehangir on his elephant, his attention caught by the attendant holding a pair of geese; and in the foreground two more attendants carry dead boar. Typical of the Persian influence in Mughal art are the luminous greens which contrast so richly with the metallic grey of the elephant; the use of relative scale to convey the significance of the subjects; and the interlocking hills interspersed with figures that delineate a kind of perspective.

Art Gallery Handbook, 1999. pg. 291.

Bibliography (10)

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 175 (colour illus.).

Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Domain, 1972, 133 (colour illus.).

Jim Masselos (Australia) (Author), Divine and Courtly Life in Indian Painting, Domain, 1991, cover (colour illus.). cat.no. 5.1

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 291 (colour illus.).

Look Apr 2000, Apr 2000.

Enter Art 2000, 2000, sheet number 12 (colour illus.). Education kit produced by the NSW Dept of Education and Training as teaching resource for primary school teachers.

Haema Sivanesan (Australia) (Assistant Curator), Indian Painting, Sydney, 2001. cat.no. 3.2

'Mughals and Maharajas: The Miniature Paintings of Courtly India', The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales 2003, 2003, 38-39 (colour illus.). The colour illus. on page 39 is a detail of this work.

Adventures in Asia. An education kit for the Asian gallery 2003, 2003, 3 (colour illus.). card no.3

'Powerful patrons' by Ann MacArthur, pg. 47., Look Dec 2009-Jan 2010, Dec 2009-Jan 2010, 47 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (3)

Divine and Courtly Life in Indian Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Oct 1991–08 Jan 1992.

Indian Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 06 Apr 2001–11 Jun 2001.

Intimate Encounters: Indian paintings from Australian collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2007–04 May 2007.