MUGHAL INDIA, 17TH CENTURY

This sketch depicts Amar Singh, who was the Maharana of Mewar from 1597 to 1620. Typically, court paintings of the maharanas are highly glamourised, portraying them in full splendour with bejewelled daggers tucked into their patkas and lavishly decorated garments. In contrast, this sketch presents Amar Singh in a restrained manner: he wears a plain jama, accented only by a green patka with floral motifs and striped red leggings. His jewellery is limited to a necklace and a few rings, and he holds a single red flower delicately in his right hand – a gesture that adds a contemplative tone rather than regal grandeur. The plain background and absence of elaborate detailing suggest that this was likely a preparatory study for a more finished painting. A notable feature is the figure’s large, almond-shaped eyes, characteristic of the emerging Udaipur style of court painting that began to flourish after Amar Singh moved the capital to the city in 1615. This relocation was significant, as it marked the consolidation of the Mewar school’s distinctive aesthetic: bright colours, strong outlines, and expressive features, later refined into intricate Udaipur miniatures. Amar Singh himself was a patron of the arts and is recorded to have devoted the last five years of his reign to commissioning numerous paintings (Andrew Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, 2001, pp. 53).