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Maharana Amar Singh II with Ladies of the Zenana outside the Picture Hall at Rajnagar
A Virtuous Woman Placates the King by Plucking Out Her Eyes
An Old Sufi Laments His Lost Youth
Alauddin Khilji Conquering Ranthamore Fort, Kangra school, India, late 18th century, opaque watercolor on paper, Tokyo National Museum
Alexander the Great Enthroned at Persepolis
Friends of Krishna, folio 163 from a Bhakti Ratnavali of Vishnu Puri
Vasant Ragini: Folio from a ragamala series (Garland of Musical Modes)
A Procession Scene with Musicians, from a copy of the Padshanama
Maharana Bhim Singh in Procession
Krishna's Fifth and Sixth Avatars, page from a copy of the Gitagovinda of Jayaveda
The Young Emperor Akbar Arrests the Insolent Shah Abu’l-Maali, Page from a Manuscript of the Akbarnama
Zal Climbing to Rudaba, page from a copy of the Shahnama of Firdausi
Abhisarika Nayika (Heroine Running to Meet her Lover)
Krishna and Radha in a Pavilion, from a copy of the Seven Hundred Verses (Sat Sai) of Bihari
The setting for the painting is the royal stables in Isfahan. The upper portion of the scene consists of a platform on which are gathered the shah, or Persian king, who appears next to the column on the right; five kneeling courtiers; and various attendants serving fruit and wine. The king is identified in the artist’s signature at the upper left as Shah ‘Abbas II, who died in 1666, but it is possible that the undated painting was executed after his death. The ruler’s status is emphasized by his golden halo and by the opulent gold and jeweled vessels placed before him. The lower portion shows a roundup of horses who bear the trident-like royal brand on their flanks; they move in a spiral that coils counterclockwise from the upper right. The scene bursts with energy and looks chaotic—a brawl is taking place at the lower left—but the courtiers and handlers seem to be getting control of the animals. The figures on the platform, meanwhile, pay no attention to the commotion below. The painting represents a new journalistic, even anecdotal approach to Persian painting introduced in the second half of the seventeenth century. The viewer gets the sense that the work may record a specific moment in daily life at court and that it was observed firsthand. Figures no longer conform to stock types but are highly individualized by facial features and dress. Standing just to the right of center in the upper part of the roundup scene is a man wearing a gold, fur-lined, armless jacket. He holds a list and is writing notes while conferring with a young man in a blue robe. The man taking notes may well be the supervisor of the royal stud, one of whose responsibilities was to inspect the king’s stables and keep an inventory of the animals.
Khambavati Ragini: Page from a Dispersed Ragamala Series (Garland of Musical Modes)
A Disconsolate Lady on a Terrace with Attendants
Heer Ranjha: Lady with Water Jug on her Head and Lady Holding out her Arms, Jodhpur school, India, c. mid-18th century, opaque watercolor on paper, Tokyo National Museum
European Banquet Scene (or The Marriage Feast at Cana?)
The Infant Krishna Spirited Away by Vasudev, from a copy of the Dispersed Bhagavat Purana
Folk Painting
Woman Addressing a Peacock: Gujari Ragini of Megh, from a Ragamala
On this folio from Walters manuscript W.604, King Qizil Arslan welcomes the poet Nizami.
Ruler Entertained by Dancers in a Paradise Garden
Portrait of Emperor Jahangir
Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana (Rama's Journey)
Amir Khusrau Dedicates His Poem to Sultan Ala al-Din Khalji, page from the Quintet (Khamsa) of Amir Khusraw Dehlavi
Young Woman Smoking a Huqqa
Kichik Beg Wounded during Babur's Attack on Qalat, from a copy of the Baburnama (Book of Babur)
Portrait of Prince Sur Singh Rathor of Bikaner (1594–1631)
Krishna with an Ascetic
Pradyumna and Samvara fight with maces, from the "Large Basohli Bhagavata Purana"
This illustration from Walters manuscript W.644 depicts Zulaykha in a blue-domed litter on a camel led by a cameleer. The retinue is entering the capital of Egypt.
Krishna Fluting
Al-Mu'tazz Sends Gifts to Abdulla ibn Abdulla, from a copy of the Tarikh-i Alfi
Ragini Gaudi, Page from a Jaipur Ragamala Set
Four Portraits from the St. Petersburg Album. Painters unknown, borders by Muhammad Sadiq. Top left: Nadir Shah, Iran, ca. 1740. Top right: Adil Shah, Iran, ca. 1748. Bottom left: Unidentified nobleman, Mughal school, 18th century. Bottom right: Unidentified nobleman, Mughal school, 18th century. Art Institute of Chicago 1919.952 recto
Prince and Princess Hunting Blackbuck
Tile Panel
"Black Buck", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Maharana Sangram Singh Riding a Prize Stallion
This folio from Walters manuscript W.596 depicts the fall of Samarqand.
"Dancing Dervishes", Folio from a Divan of Hafiz
Angel (Peri) Riding a Composite Camel
Garden Gathering
Thanka with Buddha
This drawing, Walters manuscript leaf W.749, was executed in Safavid Iran, most probably in the late 10th century AH/AD 16th, in Qazvin or Isfahan. Above, a farmer plows; below, a seated young man watches a produce seller weigh his purchase. On the rocks in the center foreground is inscribed the name of one of the most famous painters in Iran in the 11th century AH/AD 17th, Riza 'Abbasi (active 1001-1044 AH/AD 1591-1592 to 1634). As the handwriting does not match that of the artist, an admirer of Riza's work seems to have attributed the drawing to him. The execution and the bucolic subject matter of this drawing relate closely to the oeuvre of the Persian artist Muhammadi Haravi (active late 10th century AH/AD 16th), who worked in Qazvin. It is possible that this composition was conceived as a manuscript page.
Portrait of a Ladakhi Mountain Goat
Sceneries in the Tropical Land, by Imamura Shiko, Tokyo National Museum, Japan
"The Funeral of Isfandiyar," Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Krishna and Balarama Fight the Evil King Kamsa’s Wrestlers: Page from a Dispersed Bhagavata Purana
Durga Slaying Mahisha
Velvet Fragment with Design from Nizami of Ganja's Khusrau and Shirin
Manuchehr Kills Tur, Manuscript from Shahnama
慈眼大師像
Bridal Robe (Hwarot)
Green Tara
A Monumental Portrait of a Monkey
A Stallion
"The Concourse of the Birds", Folio 11r from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Bahram Gur Arrives at the House of a Merchant, text page (recto); Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940–1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama
Ingelijste muurschildering voorstellende Xiwangmu en dienaressen
Tigers Chasing Deer, with Dragon
Collection of Poems (Divan)
Tathagata Buddha
Rustam's seventh course: He kills the White Div, folio 124 from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)
Carpet with Triple-Arch Design
St Fredianus Diverts the River Serchio
The Assembly of Tejaprabha Buddha
Adorazione dei Magi. Il Redentore, i Profeti Isaia e David (nelle cuspidi) 1420 circa
Dozens of light-skinned men and women gather around clusters of columns and sandstone-colored buildings that line a crimson-red river to our right in this horizontal painting. The center of the painting is dominated by a structure made up of three rows of three columns each, which hold up a flat-topped roof. A similar structure angles into the distance along the left edge of the painting. The columns of these two structures are carved with bands showing people separated by rings of vertical lines. The capitals are carved with stylized leaves. Just beyond the columns to our left, a blocky, rose-pink structure is carved with more people, seated or standing singly or in pairs. More rectangular, parchment-brown buildings extend into the distance along the water’s edge. The people gathered along the riverbank wear robes and tunics in deep blue or black, bright white, or saturated tones of cobalt blue, ruby red, or shell pink. Standing within the columns of the central structure, a crowned, bearded man wearing an emerald-green robe under a scarlet-red cloak gestures to our right, toward the red river. A woman nearby, wearing lapis blue and also crowned, watches with hands flung up as a person pours red liquid from a bucket. Most of the other people look or gesture toward the river, which winds in deep S-curves from the horizon line, which comes about two-thirds of the way up the composition, through sage-green fields, to the town. A single, white lightning bolt zigzags down from a white cloud in an otherwise navy-blue sky above.
A Young Prince on Horseback
Asavari Ragini, page from a Garland of Musical Ragas (Ragamala) Set
The Greedy Dog
Floral Tent Panel
Panel with the god Zeus/Serapis/Ohrmazd and worshiper
Silk Kashan Carpet
Leaf from Album of Persian Calligraphy
On this folio from Walters manuscript W.653, a middle-aged woman stands in a landscape, holding a vase of flowers. The salmon pink margins are stenciled with animal and floral forms. The catchword at the lower left indicates that the following folio is missing.
The work of Carl Blechen, a pivotal figure in 19th-century German painting, marks a transition from Romanticism to a more realistic view of nature. Inspired in part by his encounter with the Italian landscape and light during a trip he made around 1828 or 1829, Blechen developed a fluid technique that enabled him to capture fleeting atmospheric effects. He often used his landscapes as settings for mysterious figures, reflecting his early contact with Romantic painting and theater.
Buddhist Priest's Ceremonial Robe
This folio from Walters manuscript W.677 depicts Bahram Gur in a peasant's house.
Hunting Scene
Three men with crowns and wearing gold-trimmed robes stand and kneel before a woman sitting on a wooden, box-like seat holding a baby to our right, in front of a rocky cave and landscape, in this horizontal painting. A balding man with a gray beard and hair, Joseph, and two younger people with blond hair stand around the woman, Mary, to our right, while a group of five young men or boys and three horses gather near the left edge. All the people have pale skin. Mary, the baby Jesus, Joseph, and the three men closest to them all have shimmering gold halos. One balding man with a long white beard kneels and kisses the baby’s feet. He wears a gold and crimson-red brocade-like robe over a burgundy-red garment, and he holds a pointed gold crown in his right hand, which rests on the ground. Behind him and to our left, a younger man with curly blond hair and goatee, wearing a wine-red tunic belted with gold and a gold crown on his head, holds his hands in prayer as he kneels down on one knee. The third stands to our left, cleanshaven with long blond hair. He wears a fur-lined, thigh-length scarlet-red robe and a gold crown, and he holds up a gold vessel in one hand. To our right, Mary wears a lapis-blue robe that covers her head and falls to her feet. The baby is covered only by a white cloth across his hips, and he has short blond hair. He touches the kneeling man’s head with one hand. His body is pudgy but his face has more adult-like, delicate features. Joseph stands at the woman’s far shoulder, wearing a butter-yellow robe over a rose-pink garment. His hands are gathered on a walking stick in front of his chest and his brows are furrowed with deep lines. One of the two younger people behind Mary, to our right, holds a lidded gold vessel. The group of five attendants to our left gather around cream-white, gray, or chestnut-brown horses. These blond people wear garments of dark olive-green, coral-red, royal-blue, or rose-pink tunics over black stockings. The rocky, brown cave behind Mary and Jesus, to our right of center, is occupied by a donkey and an ox behind a wooden trough. The landscape beyond is segmented into quilt-like squares of stylized crops. The horizon line comes almost to the top edge of the panel beneath a narrow strip of vivid, cobalt-blue sky. A gold star like a sunburst with rays of light hovers over the woman and child.
This page from Walters manuscript W.674 bears 4 diplomas written within illuminated cartouches inscribed in ijazah script by the following master calligraphers: Yaziji zadah, Isma'il al-Zuhdi Katib al-Saray al-Sultani, Muhammad Hasib, and 'Ali al-Wasfi. The page is dated 1219 AH/AD 1804-1805.
Peonies
This is a painting of a pastoral scene near the water with a ship and buildings in the background. The artwork is in the style of American folk art, presented in an oval frame. The image depicts a serene landscape by the water, with figures engaged in activities such as gathering flowers in the center. The foliage is in shades of green and brown, spreading above under a lightly clouded, blue sky. On the left side, a ship is anchored near the shore, with buildings visible in the distance. The water has soft waves, contrasting with the rocky ground in the foreground. The pastel colors create a calm and reflective mood, evoking tranquility and connection with nature.
Thangka with the Seventh Bodhisattva
Exhibit in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon - Eugene, Oregon, USA.
About three dozen people gather in a grassy field to either side of a crumbling structure to kneel and pray before a woman and baby in the center of this horizontal painting. The woman, Mary, and baby, Jesus, have smooth, pale skin while the others have light or tanned skin. The structure has sand-colored stone pillars, a wooden triangular, pitched roof, and a straw floor. Mary, who has an elongated torso, sits facing us with her knees apart. She wears an azure-blue robe over a rose-pink dress. A shell-pink veil covers her head and body. Jesus sits on her left knee, his pudgy body angled to our left. He is nude except for a transparent cloth wrapped over one shoulder and the opposite hip. Mary’s left hand braces his torso. On Mary’s right, our left, Joseph, an older man, stands facing us. He clasps his hands at his chest and leans on a long stick. He has wrinkled skin, long, gray curly hair, and a full beard. Both Mary and Joseph tilt their heads to their right, our left, as they look down at Jesus. Joseph wears a golden yellow robe over a blue tunic. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus have faint gold halos. Behind them, a brown cow and gray donkey rest on the straw. People closest to Mary and Jesus kneel and bow their heads while the people to the left and right sides mostly stand. Three men kneeling closest to Mary and Jesus offer gifts, including a bronze vessel and a gold jar. One man has long dark brown hair and a beard, and wears a gold crown. Another man is bald with long gray hair and beard, while the third is cleanshaven with shoulder-length brown hair. These men wear robes in powder blue, carnation pink, or celery green with delicate silver and gold embelishments. Others in the crowd range in age from young and cleanshaven to older and bearded. They wear robes and tunics in shades of raspberry pink, butterscotch yellow, lapis blue, plum purple, or forest green. Several horses, their coats white or cinnamon brown, stand among the crowd, a few with riders. To our right, one horse rears its head and two others stand facing each other. Beyond the crowd, grassy green meadows and hills dotted with trees lead back to the horizon. A pale blue sky fills the top third of the composition.
Daibutsu and Scaffolding, by Migita Toshihide, 1895, Meiji 27, from the Hood Museum of Art - PR.995.23.9ab.
The Eighth Plague: Locusts (Exodus 10:12-15)
This print illustrates the legend of a woman murdered by her husband because she accidentally broke plates. Her corpse and the pieces of the dishes were thrown into a well, but her ghost returned every night to haunt him in the eerie form seen here. This small-format work features a bright blue color that may seem cheery to us, but Hokusai’s original audience would have associated it with death and the occult.
Stela of Amenemhat and Hemet
This is the final illuminated page in the codex, Walters W.582. The last panel contains the colophon, written in Riqa' script, giving the name of the scribe as Habib Allah ibn Dust Muhammad al-Khwarizmi.
An Artisan’s Shop, from the album The Mist of Sandara (Sandara kasumi)
Dozens of people form a line starting from an opening in a city wall or building in the background to a rustic shed-like structure close to us, to kneel before a seated woman holding a baby on her lap in this vertical painting. All of the people have pale skin tinged faintly with green. The top edge of the panel is shaped so it has two rounded sections like shoulders leading to a stepped, crown-like form with an inward curving triangle at the top. A nickel-gray, crenelated stone wall of a distant city is nestled into the top, stepped section, with a glimmering gold sky above filling the uppermost triangle. Tile-roofed and domed buildings and a few towers appear densely packed beyond the wall. People on foot and horseback create a line from an arched opening in the wall toward us and to our right. Three of the people on horseback in the distance wear long robes and have gold halos. The line of people winds behind a tall, narrow hill to our right and it continues close to us. Two horses, two camels, and several people wait to the right but our attention is drawn to the trio in the foreground, Mary, Jesus, and Joseph, and the three men near the infant, the Magi. Mary wears a lapis-blue mantle covering her head and shoulders over a petal-pink dress, and she sits on a wooden or stone chest in the center of the painting. Her body faces us but she turns her face to look with pale blue eyes off to our right. In one hand she holds a hexagonal gold vessel that tapers to a flame-like finial. With the other hand, on our left, she supports the blond infant sitting in her lap. He is covered only with a white cloth around his waist, and he looks toward the vessel as he holds up the index and middle fingers of his right hand. To our left and slightly behind Mary, a balding man with white hair and beard and wearing a blue garment under a red robe sits with his head propped in his hand, looking down. His other hand rests on what might be the handle of a crutch or staff. The man, woman, and child have gold halos with what appears to be writing. The three Magi also have gold halos and they all wear scarlet-red shoes. The oldest kneels before Mary and kisses Jesus's feet. He has a long, light gray beard and is balding. He wears a brocade-like gold robe over pale brick-red sleeves. A cleanshaven man with dark brown hair and wrinkles around his mouth kneels to our left as he raises a jewel-encrusted gold crown from his head. He wears a gold and red floral-patterned garment and holds a rounded vessel, also with a flame-like finial. A younger, cleanshaven man with smooth features and shoulder-length, curling blond hair to our right also wears a gold crown. A dagger hangs from the waist of his sky-blue tunic, and his leggings are pale plum purple. Both arms are bent to his hands are held up, and in his right hand, he holds another tabernacle-like gold vessel. The structure to our left houses a donkey and bull munching hay. A gold sunburst floats above the roof, which seems to be built up against the stone wall of a building. The hills and trees beyond the people is painted with pine and moss greens and brown.
Buddhist Deities
Palampore
Cho Jae-ho from Punhyang Cho Family