Life and career
Origins and training
Abu’l Hasan was the son of court painter Aqa Riza, who introduced him to manuscript painting. A study after Dürer, made when he was thirteen, documents his early skill.
Places, turning points and artistic change
He developed from Persian-influenced workshop practice into closely observed nature studies and sophisticated portraits for Jahangir. The emperor gave him the title Nadir al-Zaman, or Wonder of the Times.
Beyond the studio
His career was tied to a particular patron and court. Changes after Jahangir’s death affected his position; known work does not support inventing a detailed late-life career beyond 1628.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
Reading the selected works together
The early European-derived study, squirrels and bird show how copying, inherited conventions and direct observation could coexist.
- 01
1600–01
1600–01
Study of Saint John the Evangelist, after Albrecht Dürer
- Material / technique
- Brush-drawn ink on paper
- Attribution / role
- See the museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Met / loan from Ashmolean Museum
An early signed and dated exercise, not an original invention of the subject.
- 02
c. 1610–15
Explore artwork ↗c. 1610–15
Spotted Forktail, folio from the Shah Jahan Album
- Material / technique
- Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on silk
- Attribution / role
- Collection / source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Artist-wide context
Refined portraits and symbolic court scenes helped shape the image of Jahangir’s rule.
Purchase, Rogers Fund and The Kevorkian Foundation Gift, 1955 · Public Domain - 03
c. 1610
c. 1610
Squirrels in a Plane Tree
- Material / technique
- Painting
- Attribution / role
- See the museum attribution
- Collection / source
- British Library; discussed by The Met
A work discussed in the museum’s artist biography, with a strong inherited Persian-style setting.
Materials, marks and colour
Media and surface
Brush-drawn ink and opaque watercolour allow both sensitive modelling and very fine detail.
Marks and structure
Careful outlines can retain the flat page while small tonal shifts build volume.
Palette and light
Gold grounds and observed natural colour belong to different kinds of commission.