Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗

Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) · c. 1590

Mughal ruler Humayun defeating the Afghans before reconquering India, folio from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602)

Creator not recorded by the museum

Date: c. 1590
Medium: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions: Image: 31.2 x 18.6 cm (12 5/16 x 7 5/16 in.); Overall: 36.5 x 23.1 cm (14 3/8 x 9 1/8 in.)
Country / context: India
Movement / tradition: South Asian arts
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Pathway: South Asian arts ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

In a battle that took place in 1555, the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, reconquered northern India from the Afghans with the help of Iranian military forces. His mounted figure stands out from the fray, with his golden helmet and red tunic silhouetted against a hillside in the upper center of the composition. To illustrate the beginning of hisown biography, Humayun’s son Akbar included this image of his father riding victoriously back to India. The scene never actually occurred in this way, since Humayun did not participate in this particular battle; his inclusion here is symbolic.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

A MOMENT TO LOOK

Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?

Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.

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