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Rao Mihr Serves a Lavish Feast to the People of Govar

c. 1540
Artist/maker unknown, Indian
This painting illustrates a scene from the Chandayana, a Persian-language version of an Indian folk romance. The manuscript for which it was made was probably created for the Muslim ruler of the Sultanate of Mandu in central northern India. It is a splendid fusion of Islamic and indigenous Indian pictorial traditions. By dividing the page into horizontal rows, the artist adapted the vertical format typical of Islamic illustrations to suit the indigenous Indian preference for horizontal compositions. Another distinctive feature is the blue-and-green floral carpet in the immediate foreground, which hangs flush with the picture plane. As a result, the figures appear to balance precariously on the textile’s edge.

Object Details

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