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"Shah Jahan on Horseback", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album

Painting by Payag Indian
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
verso: ca. 1630; recto: ca. 1530–50
Not on view
Payag worked for the emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan over the course of a remarkably long, seven-decade career, and his brother Balchand was also a talented painter with whom he collaborated on a handful of paintings. The attribution of this portrait to Payag, written in the border below the painting by Shah Jahan, was recently confirmed by the discovery of a microscopic signature on the golden tip of the emperor’s bow.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Shah Jahan on Horseback", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
  • Artist: Painting by Payag (Indian, active ca. 1591–1658)
  • Calligrapher: Mir 'Ali Haravi (died ca. 1550)
  • Date: verso: ca. 1630; recto: ca. 1530–50
  • Geography: Attributed to India
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: H. 15 5/16 in. (38.9 cm)
    W. 10 1/8 in. (25.7 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers Fund and The Kevorkian Foundation Gift, 1955
  • Object Number: 55.121.10.21
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

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The Goddess Bhairavi Devi with Shiva, Payag Indian, Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
The Goddess Bhairavi Devi with Shiva
Payag
ca. 1630–35
Portrait of Islam Khan Mashhadi, Payag Indian, Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Portrait of Islam Khan Mashhadi
Payag
17th century
Prince Dara Shikoh Hunting Nilgais, Payag Indian, Opaque watercolor on paper, India (Mughal court, probably at Lahore)
Returned to lender
Prince Dara Shikoh Hunting Nilgais
Payag
ca. 1635
Nasiri Khan Directing the Siege of Qandahar, May 1631: Folio from the Windsor Padshahnama, Payag Indian, Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper, India (Mughal court at Agra)
Returned to lender
Nasiri Khan Directing the Siege of Qandahar, May 1631: Folio from the Windsor Padshahnama
Payag
ca. 1633
Humayan Seated in a Landscape with a Plane Tree, Admiring a Turban Ornament: Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album, Payag Indian, Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, India (Mughal court at Delhi)
Returned to lender
Humayan Seated in a Landscape with a Plane Tree, Admiring a Turban Ornament: Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album
Payag
ca. 1650

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