Emperor Farrukhsiyar Bestows a Jewel on a Nobleman
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.About the Artist
About the Artist
Chitarman II (Kalyan Das)
Active at the court of Emperor Muhammad Shah in Delhi, ca. 1700–ca. 1745
Kalyan Das, more popularly known as Chitarman II, was born around 1680 at a time when court atelier structures had largely collapsed, following Emperor Aurangzeb’s disavowing of the visual arts. The first two decades of his career can be viewed as a formative period; Chitarman II’s apogee came after that time, when he became the most important court painter of his age under a new patron, Emperor Muhammad Shah (r. 1719–48). The intimate subjects he produced, for example the emperor engaged in sex, make it clear that the artist’s agenda was dictated by the patron. At the court in Delhi, Chitarman II became a specialist in portraits and figure painting. More formulaic genres such as audience scenes became less prevalent; instead, the patron Muhammad Shah had himself depicted as a hedonistic prince, seen seated on a litter and admiring his garden at sunset.
Chitarman II’s art documents the emergence of a new era, one that clearly departs from the naturalistic Mughal paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with their vogue for perspectival devices. His works appear somewhat cool at first glance; his colors — predominantly muted whites and grays — tend to have little gradation, rendering his pictures flat and geometric. The figures and architecture are arranged somewhat mechanically, as if with the use of a grid. Chitarman II purveyed a style that, to some extent, was atypical for Mughal-painting; his bold and flat application of color does, however, link to an aesthetic that is similar to contemporary paintings by Meju from the Pahari region.
About the Artist
Chitarman II (Kalyan Das)
Active at the court of Emperor Muhammad Shah in Delhi, ca. 1700–ca. 1745
Kalyan Das, more popularly known as Chitarman II, was born around 1680 at a time when court atelier structures had largely collapsed, following Emperor Aurangzeb’s disavowing of the visual arts. The first two decades of his career can be viewed as a formative period; Chitarman II’s apogee came after that time, when he became the most important court painter of his age under a new patron, Emperor Muhammad Shah (r. 1719–48). The intimate subjects he produced, for example the emperor engaged in sex, make it clear that the artist’s agenda was dictated by the patron. At the court in Delhi, Chitarman II became a specialist in portraits and figure painting. More formulaic genres such as audience scenes became less prevalent; instead, the patron Muhammad Shah had himself depicted as a hedonistic prince, seen seated on a litter and admiring his garden at sunset.
Chitarman II’s art documents the emergence of a new era, one that clearly departs from the naturalistic Mughal paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with their vogue for perspectival devices. His works appear somewhat cool at first glance; his colors — predominantly muted whites and grays — tend to have little gradation, rendering his pictures flat and geometric. The figures and architecture are arranged somewhat mechanically, as if with the use of a grid. Chitarman II purveyed a style that, to some extent, was atypical for Mughal-painting; his bold and flat application of color does, however, link to an aesthetic that is similar to contemporary paintings by Meju from the Pahari region.
Artwork Details
- Title: Emperor Farrukhsiyar Bestows a Jewel on a Nobleman
- Artist: Attributed to Chitarman II (Kalyan Das) (Indian, born ca. 1680, active ca. 1700–45)
- Date: ca. 1713–14
- Culture: India (Mughal court at Delhi)
- Medium: Opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions: Page: 15 13/16 x 11 1/4 in. (40.1 x 28.6 cm)
Image: 10 1/4 x 7 1/8 in. (26.1 x 18.1 cm)
Frame: 25 3/16 x 19 5/16 x 1 15/16 in. (64 x 49 x 5 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by The David Collection, Copenhagen, 26/1982
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art