Prince Riding an Elephant

Prince Riding an Elephant


Artists of several nationalities filled Akbar's atelier, and disparate stylistic elements were often incorporated into a single painting. This page displays the Indian sensibility of its painter in its division into large areas of color and the choice of a flat yellow background. However, the physiognomy of the prince is clearly dependent on Persian prototypes, and the artist's modeling of forms to create the sense of volumes within space, most observable with the elephant, is purely Mughal. Such details as the trunk curling over itself, the foot raised to reveal an ovoid underside, and the tail swishing in front of the saddle blanket contradict the work's decorative flatness, suggesting a space deeper than that in contemporaneous Rajput painting, where pictorial elements rarely break out of a plane. The artist is interested as well in conveying to the viewer the texture, movement, and weight of the objects he describes rather than presenting idealized images of them.

Steven M. Kossak in [Kossak 1997]

Signature: In Persian along bottom border: 'Work of Khem Karan'

Kouchakji Frères, Paris (sale catalogue 1915, no. 331); [ Hagop Kevorkian, New York, until 1925; sold to MMA]

National Arts Club of New York City. "Chinese and Indian Art," December 10, 1942–January 24, 1943, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of the Art of India from The Museum's Collections," January 18–May 31, 1973, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Indian Court Painting: 16th–19th Century," March 25–July 6, 1997, no. 9.

Kouchakji Frères sale catalogue. American Art Association, 1918. no. 331.

Swietochowski, Marie, and Richard Ettinghausen. "Islamic Painting." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 36, no. 2 (Autumn 1978). p. 43, ill. p. 43 (color).

Kossak, Steven M., ed. Indian Court Painting 16th–19th century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. no. 9, p. 36, ill. (color).