A Night Celebration of the Prophet's Birthday, from the St. Petersburg Album

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Bulaqi, son of Hoshang

• Borders

  Muhammad Sadiq

• Patron

  Shah Jahan (reigned 1628-1658)

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Label

  This painting represents Shah Jahan holding a night audience for a large group of mullahs, or Muslim theologians. It may have been painted for a volume of the Padshahnama (Book of the Emperor), an official biography of the Emperor.

  Shah Jahan, seated on a platform throne under a canopy on the left, is shown praying with the mullahs and the members of his Court prior to a feast. Dara Shikoh, his eldest and favorite son, sits immediately behind the Emperor. Scholars have suggested that the elaborate feast depicted in the painting took place on the occasion of the marriage of Dara Shikoh.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)

  Masterworks of Indian Painting (December 13, 1997 to June 13, 1998)

  South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)

  The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)

  The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court (September 25, 1981 to 30 March 1982)

  Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Art, Gallery 8 (July 15, 1958 to January 1, 1963)

  Centennial Exhibition, West Corridor (February 25, 1956 to July 11, 1958)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Painting, 1955 (October 24, 1955 to November 28, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting, 1947 (April 23 to September 30, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings and Sculpture (October 2, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting (December 20, 1944 to April 23, 1947)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1630s, 1750s

• Name

  Bulaqi, Shah Jahan, Muhammad Sadiq

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Night, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858)

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings