Jahangir and Prince Khurram Entertained by Nur Jahan

TYPE
Album folio with painting
HISTORICAL PERIOD(S)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Jahangir, ca. 1640-50
MOVEMENT
Mughal Court
SCHOOL
Mughal School
MEDIUM
Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
DIMENSION(S)
H x W: 25.2 x 14.2 cm (9 15/16 x 5 9/16 in)
GEOGRAPHY
North India
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
COLLECTION
Freer Gallery of Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
F1907.258
LABEL
The powerful empress Nur Jahan (1577-1645) was an ardent patron of gardens. This intimate composition depicts the empress relaxing with her husband, Jahangir, and Prince Khurram, the future emperor Shah Jahan, in what is almost certainly the Ram Bagh garden. Nur Jahan remodeled this Agra garden in 1621, shortly before the painting was created.
The Ram Bagh epitomizes the imperial Mughal (1526-1858) garden aesthetic that thoroughly integrated nature and architecture. Carpets like fields of flowers, wall paintings of cypresses, open porches with blossom-adorned columns, and water channels that ran from exterior to interior contributed to a fluid, delightful whole. Delicately scented breezes and burbling fountains further set the stage for royal pastimes.

PROVENANCE
FORMER OWNER
Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (C.L. Freer source) (1839 - 1914)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
ON VIEW LOCATION
Currently not on view
CLASSIFICATION(S)
Album, Painting
KEYWORD(S)
deer, dragon, eating, emperor, India, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), phoenix, prince, Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627)
COLLECTION(S) AREA
South Asian and Himalayan Art
WEB RESOURCE(S)
Google Cultural Institute