Painting
1610-1615 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This depiction of an aged mulla was done by Farrokh Beg, an Iranian artist at the Mughal court. He arrived in Hindustan in 1585 and entered imperial service under the emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). Two of his paintings are in the illustrated partial copy of the history of the reign now in the V&A.
His career in Hindustan has attracted a great deal of study, but facts concerning where he lived between about 1600 and about 1610 are scarce. This painting is inscribed in Persian in the recognisable hand of Jahangir (r.1605-1627): the work of Farrokh Beg in his 70th year.
The painting was inherited by Jahangir's son Shah Jahan on his accession, and new borders were added to it for inclusion in a royal album.
His career in Hindustan has attracted a great deal of study, but facts concerning where he lived between about 1600 and about 1610 are scarce. This painting is inscribed in Persian in the recognisable hand of Jahangir (r.1605-1627): the work of Farrokh Beg in his 70th year.
The painting was inherited by Jahangir's son Shah Jahan on his accession, and new borders were added to it for inclusion in a royal album.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper |
| Brief description | Painting of an aged mulla by Farrokh Beg, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, 1605-1627. The borders are filled with flowering plants painted in opaque water colour and gold |
| Physical description | Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, of an elderly mullah with a long white beard standing with his arms crossed at the wrists and slightly bent, in front of a tree in which two birds nest. He stands on a grassy mound on which grow flowers and a small willow tree. The margins of this page from an imperial Mughal album are filled with flowering plants painted in opaque water colour and outlined in gold. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | An elderly man with a long white beard is depicted standing in front of a tree, with other flowering plants around him. |
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | (The Persian inscription in black ink is written on the ground of the painting at left in Jahangir's own hand.)
|
| Gallery label | An aged mulla
Opaque water colour and gold on paper
Mughal, inscribed in Persian: ‘the work of Farrokh Beg in his seventieth year’
c. 1610-20
IM.10-1925
From the Minto Album
Farrokh Beg arrived at the Mughal court from Iran in 1585 and his work was included in the Akbarnama where, unusually, he was given sole responsibility for a page rather than sharing it with one or two other artists. His work retains a distinctively Iranian quality as in this portrayal of a mulla, one learned in Islamic theology and religious law.
(2009) |
| Object history | The folio is from a group of paintings acquired at auction in 1925 where they were sold as "The Minto Album" and subsequently divided between the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin and the V&A. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This depiction of an aged mulla was done by Farrokh Beg, an Iranian artist at the Mughal court. He arrived in Hindustan in 1585 and entered imperial service under the emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). Two of his paintings are in the illustrated partial copy of the history of the reign now in the V&A. His career in Hindustan has attracted a great deal of study, but facts concerning where he lived between about 1600 and about 1610 are scarce. This painting is inscribed in Persian in the recognisable hand of Jahangir (r.1605-1627): the work of Farrokh Beg in his 70th year. The painting was inherited by Jahangir's son Shah Jahan on his accession, and new borders were added to it for inclusion in a royal album. |
| Associated object | IM.10A-1925 (Verso) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.10-1925 |
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| Record created | April 10, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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