MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1675

This portrait lies at an interesting juncture in Mughal painting. It likely dates to the late 18th century, an indicator of the shifting movement towards frontal facing portraits but with vestiges of 17th century nim qalam. The latter are clear hallmarks of earlier Mughal painting. An example of similar subject matter and style can be found in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (lib. no. 72.13). Where ours differs is in its embrace of more photorealistic portraiture, especially around the eyes, and the movement towards a frontal facing depiction. Indian painters were strictly trained in profile painting (Andrew Topsfield, Paintings from Mughal India, Oxford, 2008). Indeed, it was not until the arrival of the British that artists began to move away from this and turn their attention to the real faces of everyday people of India. Our portrait is still focused on depicting a courtly subject and predates the Company School paintings of the early 19th century.