A Maharana and His Retinue Hunting Boar
Western India, Rajasthan, Udaipur
Not on view
A Rajput ruler, identified by a radiating halo framing his head, oversees a hunt in which courtiers on horseback and on foot pursue packs of boars. Rolling hills mark the horizon, and at upper left is a Hindu shrine, likely a sanctuary dedicated to Shiva where the royal family worshiped. The ruler, attended by standard bearers, appears twice in the composition, enacting different stages in the hunt. The aerial view, fluid action, and confidently executed figures are characteristic of early eighteenth-century painting in the Mewar court. This drawing, probably sketched from life in the field, depicts a narrative that is fully elaborated in the painting Maharana Jagat Singh Hawks for Cranes (1996.100.3) and likely served as a study or preparatory drawing for such a finished work.
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