1627
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Nur Jahan holding a portrait of Emperor Jahangir is a 1627 unspecified by Bishandas, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in rich robes holds a small painted portrait of an older man with a gray beard. The man sits behind a patterned cloth window, a sign of royal power in Mughal India. This painting flips the usual script. Normally, emperors held portraits of their ancestors to prove their right to rule. Here, the emperor’s favorite wife holds his portrait—hinting she might take his place. Nur Jahan ran the empire while Jahangir was alive, and she wanted to keep control after his death. To see more royal portraits like this, look up Mughal India, Indian art.
A woman identified as the favorite wife of the Mughal emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605–27) holds a formal portrait of her husband. He appears aged with graying facial hair behind the jharokha carpet that marks imperial presence. This painting may be modeled on a work depicting Jahangir holding a portrait of his deceased father, showing himself to be the legitimate successor. Nur Jahan, who handled most of the affairs of state, hoped to remain in power after his death. She is depicted in her idealized youth, since she would have been 50 years old when Jahangir died.
Jahangir died at 58, outliving his younger brothers by about 25 years.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Bishandas, also Bishan Das or Bishn Das, was an Indian painter during the Mughal era.
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