Maharaja Bakhat Singh
India, Rajasthan, Marwar, Nagaur
Not on view
This portrait, one of the finest from eighteenth-century Rajasthan, was painted at Nagaur Fort in the kingdom of Marwar. The subject, Bakhat Singh (1706–1752), younger brother of Marwar’s ruler, was appointed governor of the fort, within which he constructed a pleasure palace decorated with elegant floral designs. Widely known as an accomplished poet and patron of the arts, he helped foster a culture of painting and poetry at the fort that flourished for twenty years. Seen here poised at an audience window (jharoka), he rests one hand on the carpeted windowsill and holds in the other a fragrant rose, the quintessential pose for a connoisseur. Royal portraits were routinely used as diplomatic gifts between courts, likely the purpose of this work.
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