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Saint Cecilia

Painting
first half 17th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Mughal emperors collected European paintings and engravings, many of which were brought to the court in the late 16th and early 17th century by successive Jesuit missions who travelled to Delhi, Agra and Lahore from Portuguese Goa. The artists employed by the emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) often copied these exotic works of art. This painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia is a close copy of an engraving by Jerome [Hieronymus] Wierix. The painting is ascribed to a female artist, Nini, whose work is otherwise unknown. It is mounted on a decorated page formerly bound in an album compiled for Shah Jahan.

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read The arts of the Mughal Empire The great age of Mughal art lasted from about 1580 to 1650 and spanned the reigns of three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Hindu and Muslim artists and craftsmen from the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent worked with Iranian masters in the masculine environment of the r...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSaint Cecilia (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, by Nini, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, first half 17th century
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, the martyrdom of Saint Cecilia. Saint Cecilia lies on the floor, expiring, in front of a female companion who reaches towards her neck. A second moves forward with a glass bowl of water and sponge. A putto at left flies towards her carrying a crown. The nimbate figure of Christ hovers in the clouds above.
Dimensions
  • Painting height: 13.5cm
  • Painting width: 10.4cm
  • Page height: 38.3cm
  • Page width: 25.8cm
Content description
The martyrdom of Saint Cecilia. Saint Cecilia lies on the floor, expiring, in front of a female companion who reaches towards her neck and while a second moves forward with a glass bowl of water and sponge. A putto at left flies towards her carrying a crown. The nimbate figure of Christ hovers in the clouds above.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • (The Persian inscription giving the name of the artist is written in black ink in the border below the painting.)
    Translation
    'Work of [ie painted by] Nini'
    Transliteration
    'amal-e Nini'
  • Nandaram Pandit 1161 [?] (This seal stamp in black ink appears to provide the name of an 18th century owner. The date seems to be 1161 of the Islamic era, corresponding to 1748 AD, but is slightly smudged.)
    Translation
    Nandaram Pandit 1161[=1748 AD]
Credit line
Bequeathed by Lady Wantage
Object history
The painting is mounted on a page with decorated borders from an album made for the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

Part of the bequest of the Right Honourable Harriet Sarah Baroness Wantage, of Locking House, Wantage Berks, widow of the first and last Baron Wantage, V.C., K.C.B., V.D.

R.P. 1920-8342, 1920-5869, 1921-3081, 1921-177
Production
Another version of this painting is in the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, City Palace, Jaipur (see Asok Kumar Das, Treasures of Indian Painting, Series Two, Plate IV).
Subjects depicted
Summary
The Mughal emperors collected European paintings and engravings, many of which were brought to the court in the late 16th and early 17th century by successive Jesuit missions who travelled to Delhi, Agra and Lahore from Portuguese Goa. The artists employed by the emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) often copied these exotic works of art. This painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia is a close copy of an engraving by Jerome [Hieronymus] Wierix. The painting is ascribed to a female artist, Nini, whose work is otherwise unknown. It is mounted on a decorated page formerly bound in an album compiled for Shah Jahan.
Bibliographic references
  • Asok Kumar Das, Mughal Painting during Jahangir's Time, Calcutta 1979 pl. 68, p. 237. Gauvin Alexander Bailey, 'Counter Reformation Symbolism and Allegory in Mughal Painting', unpublished doctoral thesis, Harvard, 1996, cat. 199. Susan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The art of the book 1560-1660, V&A Publications, 2002, pl. 70, p. 104. Jorge Flores and Nuno Vassallo e Silva eds, Goa and the Great Mughal, Lisbon,2004, cat. 82 p. 225, illustrated p. 168. Yael Rice, “Painters, Albums, and Pandits: Agents of Image Reproduction in Early Modern South Asia,” Ars Orientalis 51, 2022, fig. 1.
Collection
Accession number
IM.139A-1921

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Record createdMay 17, 2013
Record URL
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