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A prince celebrating Holi with palace women on a terrace at night (recto); calligraphy of a quatrain (verso)

Unknown

1760

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Romanticism 18th Century Genre Scene Farrukhabad Mughal

Dominant colour

A prince celebrating Holi with palace women on a terrace at night (recto); calligraphy of a quatrain (verso) is a 1760 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, depicting Farrukhabad, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1760 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a prince and palace women on a terrace at night, throwing colored powder under a full moon. This painting shows Holi, the Indian festival of spring. The women hold dishes of powder and plunger guns filled with colored water—tools for the playful, messy celebration. The moon’s reflection on the river and candlelight make the scene glow. If you like this, look up Mughal paintings next.

The story of this work

Overview

Images of pleasure and play abound in Mughal paintings of the latter half of the 1700s. Under a full moon reflected off a river and by the light of candles, a prince celebrates the spring festival of Holi with a group of palace women. Holi festivities include the boisterous tradition of smearing one another with colored powders—shown heaped on dishes—or shooting colored liquid using plunger guns.