Susanna and the Elders, folio from the Gulshan Album (Rose Garden album)

Object Details

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Description

  Mounted in superb Jahangiri borders decorated in gold, this folio features a European miniature oil on paper, the subject an episode from the biblical story of Susanna at her bath surprised by the Elders.

  Album page with European miniature painting in oils on paper, inner border of floral arabesques in gold within gold and colored rules, outer margins of pink-tinted paper finely decorated in gold with landscapes featuring rocks, trees and animals, with pairs of birds finished in colors, slight defects and tears repaired at edge of outer margin, the reverse blank, reinforced with paper from a manuscript of Persian poetry.

• Inscriptions

  1. (Vidya Dehejia, 18 April 1996) This folio carries the label of A. Khan Rahimi on its reverse, a Parisian art dealer of the 1920's.

• Label

  This folio is a striking demonstration of Mughal artistic creativity and experimentation. The oil on paper is in a style closely related to paintings from Portugal and is one of the only two known oils from Mughal India.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Muraqqa: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (May 3 to August 3, 2008)

  Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1600s

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627), Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Poetry, Flowers, Bathing, Susanna

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings