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Lot Essay
The Persian story of Majnun in the desert is one that, from the number of surviving Mughal illustrations, was obviously very popular in Mughal India. It lends itself to visual interpretation; illustrated versions can be found in various museums and libraries, for instance the British Library, London (MS.Or.12208), the Walters Gallery of Art, Baltimore (W.624). It would have resonated well with the various stories of Indian ascetics, which the present depiction makes visually more obvious. It seems to be the only depiction of a bald Majnun in Mughal Art. The model relates to paintings of the Yog Vashisht, a complex Hindu work concerning the illusory nature of material life (Leach, 1995, pp.155-195). Majnun himself could be modelled on exactly the same person as the figures of Gadhi and Vashishta, each depicted by Kesu Das (Leach, ibid., fig.2.23, p.176, and fig.2.30, p.190). The similarity is such that it is very probable that Majnun himself was painted by Kesu Das.
A comparable illustration of Majnun in the wilderness painted in a grisaille style, which is attributed to the Mughal artist Miskin and dated to the early 17th century, is in the collection of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The scene introduces a now-married Layla and two further figures in a cave in the background. (Aitken, 2010, fig.4.18, p.172). The Bodleian example also gives the animals the same individual and humorous character found in our painting, and has an almost identical depiction of deer.
The calligraphy on the back of this painting is signed, katabahu al-'abd al-ahqar jawahir raqam ghafar dhunubahu, (The most despicable slave Jawahir Raqam wrote it, [God] forgive his sins). Mir Sayyid 'Ali al-Tabrizi, given the title Jawahir Raqam (or 'Jewel Pen'), was the tutor and then librarian of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb who died in 1683 (see Huart, 1908, p. 256).
A comparable illustration of Majnun in the wilderness painted in a grisaille style, which is attributed to the Mughal artist Miskin and dated to the early 17th century, is in the collection of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The scene introduces a now-married Layla and two further figures in a cave in the background. (Aitken, 2010, fig.4.18, p.172). The Bodleian example also gives the animals the same individual and humorous character found in our painting, and has an almost identical depiction of deer.
The calligraphy on the back of this painting is signed, katabahu al-'abd al-ahqar jawahir raqam ghafar dhunubahu, (The most despicable slave Jawahir Raqam wrote it, [God] forgive his sins). Mir Sayyid 'Ali al-Tabrizi, given the title Jawahir Raqam (or 'Jewel Pen'), was the tutor and then librarian of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb who died in 1683 (see Huart, 1908, p. 256).