KISHANGARH, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1730

This dynastic portrait depicts Humayun at its centre surrounded by the Emperor Akbar, Prince Daniyal and Bairam Khan, regent at the court of both Humayun and Akbar. It resembles a painting of the same subject in the Khalili Collection, dated to circa 1707-12 (Linda York Leach, Paintings from India, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol.VIII, London, 1998, no.40, pp.146-49). The Khalili painting is attributable to Bhawani Das, who is also known to have painted two other paintings of the same subject. If one looks at the eyes of many of the figures in the Khalili painting, most notably perhaps the figure in green on the left of the portrait, they share with ours the distinctive sharp diagonal eyebrows as seen on our painting in the depictions of Humayun and Bairam Khan. Bahwani Das worked in the studio of Bahadur Shah and moved to Kishangarh after Bahadur Shah’s death, where his style became more Rajput (see for example a painting of the Darbar of the Muhammad Shah, dated to circa 1730-40 in a private collection and published in Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, no.54, pp.72-73). Although it seems unlikely that our portrait is by the same artist, it is likely that it is by an artist working at a similar period in a similar style.