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Shah Jahan

Painting
ca. 1630 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This portrait of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r.1628-1658) is inscribed in his hand in the border immediately beneath his feet. He states that 'this is a good likeness of me in my fortieth year, the work of Bichitr'. The emperor was thus 39, and the painting must have been completed in about 1630 or early 1631, just before the tragedy of the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth. She died in the city of Burhanpur in June, 1631. According to contemporary historians, the emperor retired to the palace in deep grief, refraining from wearing fine clothes. After her death, the emperor's dark beard seen in this painting was said to have become more than one third white within days from his intense sorrow.
His appearance in this portrait is one of imperial magnificence. He is heavily bejewelled, wearing multiple bracelets, necklaces and turban ornaments, and a belt set with large stones. His sword has a gold hilt and scabbard fittings similarly set with precious stones.
The portrait was once part of a royal album with floral borders characteristic of Shah Jahan's reign. Forty pages from the album were sold at Sotheby's, London, in 1925 and bought by the collector Alfred Chester Beatty in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A acquired 21 folios, and the Chester Beatty Library 19, and the album was henceforth known as the Minto Album, from its known connnection with the Minto family. It is not known whether the album was acquired by the First Earl Minto, Governor General of India from 1807 to 1813, or by the fourth Earl, Viceroy of India from 1905 to 1910.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleShah Jahan (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, portrait of Shah Jahan in his fortieth year, by Bichitr, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1630
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, a portrait of the emperor Shah Jahan in his fortieth year.
Dimensions
  • Painting without border height: 22.1cm
  • Painting without border width: 13.3cm
  • Page height: 38.7cm
  • Page width: 26.6cm
Half Imperial Mount (Portrait)
Content description
A portrait of Shah Jahan in his 40th year.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(The Persian inscription is in black ink immediately beneath the portrait and is in Shah Jahan's hand.)
Translation
'A good likeness of me in my fortieth year the work of Bichitr'
Transliteration
'shabih-e khub-e chehel-e salagi-ye man ast amal-e bichitr'
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 portrait of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r.1628-1658) is inscribed in his hand in the border immediately beneath his feet. He states that 'this is a good likeness of me in my fortieth year, the work of Bichitr'. The emperor was thus 39, and the painting must have been completed in about 1630 or early 1631, just before the tragedy of the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth. She died in the city of Burhanpur in June, 1631. According to contemporary historians, the emperor retired to the palace in deep grief, refraining from wearing fine clothes. After her death, the emperor's dark beard seen in this painting was said to have become more than one third white within days from his intense sorrow.
His appearance in this portrait is one of imperial magnificence. He is heavily bejewelled, wearing multiple bracelets, necklaces and turban ornaments, and a belt set with large stones. His sword has a gold hilt and scabbard fittings similarly set with precious stones.
The portrait was once part of a royal album with floral borders characteristic of Shah Jahan's reign. Forty pages from the album were sold at Sotheby's, London, in 1925 and bought by the collector Alfred Chester Beatty in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A acquired 21 folios, and the Chester Beatty Library 19, and the album was henceforth known as the Minto Album, from its known connnection with the Minto family. It is not known whether the album was acquired by the First Earl Minto, Governor General of India from 1807 to 1813, or by the fourth Earl, Viceroy of India from 1905 to 1910.
Bibliographic references
  • STRONGE, Susan. Painting for the Mughal Emperor: The Art of the Book 1560 – 1660 London : V&A Publications, 2002. 192p, ill. ISBN 1 85177 358 4. p. 129, pl. 94
  • Ayers, J. Oriental Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1983, ISBN 0-85667-120-7 p. 70
  • Irwin, John C., Indian Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1968 pl. 37
  • A.S. Melikian-Chirvani, "The Jewelled Objects of Hindustan", Jewellery Studies, vol. 10, London, 2004, p. 27, fig. 27
Collection
Accession number
IM.17-1925

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Record createdJune 15, 2005
Record URL
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