Portrait of an Indian Dervish from Lucknow
Watercolour
1852 (Painted)
1852 (Painted)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The Islamic world has no monastic tradition but certain of its holy men have always embraced poverty in order to intensify their vision of God. Some travelled great distances and lived by requesting alms which it was the duty of the devout to give. There were many different kinds of dervishes (literally those who have renounced the world) and they were often credited with extraordinary powers, such as healing and magic. The artist has not indicated what brought this dervish all the way from Lucknow, the historic capital of the province of Oudh in northern India.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Portrait of an Indian Dervish from Lucknow |
Materials and techniques | Pencil, water- and body colour touched with white |
Brief description | Portrait of an Indian Dervish from Lucknow, 1852. Aloysius Rosarius Amadeus Raymondus Andreas, known as Amadeo, 5th Count Preziosi |
Physical description | Watercolour of a seated man holding a begging bowl. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Marks and inscriptions | Dervisce Indiana di Luckno 10 giugno l852
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Object history | This is one of a group of 31 portraits, acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1900. They were once assembled in an album, but whether by Preziosi himself, or a member of his family, or subsequently, is not known. |
Subject depicted | |
Place depicted | |
Summary | The Islamic world has no monastic tradition but certain of its holy men have always embraced poverty in order to intensify their vision of God. Some travelled great distances and lived by requesting alms which it was the duty of the devout to give. There were many different kinds of dervishes (literally those who have renounced the world) and they were often credited with extraordinary powers, such as healing and magic. The artist has not indicated what brought this dervish all the way from Lucknow, the historic capital of the province of Oudh in northern India. |
Bibliographic reference | Llewellyn, Briony and Newton, Charles. The People and Places of Constantinople : watercolours by Amadeo Count Preziosi 1816-1882. London, Victori & Albert Museum, 1985
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Collection | |
Accession number | D.20-1900 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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