Muhammad Ibrahim, the Khan Alam

Currently not on view

Muhammad Ibrahim, the Khan Alam

c. 1700

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Barely visible in the background, a great army marches at the command of Muhammad Ibrahim, who was given the title Khan Alam (Lord of the World). Once a senior official at the Mughal court, he switched his allegiance to the Rajput enemy he had been sent to subdue. This Kishangarh artist portrays Muhammad Ibrahim as a hero in the Rajput fight against Mughal domination, yet he paints the Khan Alam in a style and format firmly rooted in Mughal portraiture. The hips-and-above portrayal, the receding landscape, the varied palette, and the details of dress and pose are typical of paintings from the workshop of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658-1707). The abstraction of the figure's large forms and the thin application of paint, however, foreshadow the distinctive Kishangarh paintings of the following decades.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Muhammad Ibrahim, the Khan Alam

Date:

c. 1700

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Transparent and opaque watercolor, gold, and silver-colored paint on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 15 1/2 × 9 3/4 inches (39.4 × 24.8 cm) Sheet: 16 13/16 × 9 3/4 inches (42.7 × 24.8 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

125th Anniversary Acquisition. Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2004

Accession Number:

2004-149-44

Geography:

Made in Kishangarh, Rajasthan, India, Asia

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Currently not on view