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Lot Essay
The hunting scene can be attributed to the artist Hiranand dating to circa 1600. The main figures, particularly the attendant carrying a gun in the foreground have quite high foreheads and expressive features. A good comparison cfan be made with a work attributed to Hiranand in the Freer Gallery of Art from the Akbarnama dated to circa 1604, (inv.1952.31; Milo Cleveland Beach, The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court, Washington, 1981, Cat. no.12f).
The fine modelling of both the facial features and the delicate outlines of this European inspired scene make this a remarkably refined work of its time. A European inspired biblical scene by the Mughal artist Kesu Das attributed to circa 1590 depicts figures with expressive gestures very similar to the striking figures present in our painting. It has been suggested that our painting is a Deccani rather than Mughal copy of a European original. However the composition and in particular the foreground with two figures depicted only from their head and shoulders upwards outside the walled compound is distinctly Mughal.
The fine modelling of both the facial features and the delicate outlines of this European inspired scene make this a remarkably refined work of its time. A European inspired biblical scene by the Mughal artist Kesu Das attributed to circa 1590 depicts figures with expressive gestures very similar to the striking figures present in our painting. It has been suggested that our painting is a Deccani rather than Mughal copy of a European original. However the composition and in particular the foreground with two figures depicted only from their head and shoulders upwards outside the walled compound is distinctly Mughal.