Open full image Pin

Princes hunting in a rocky landscape

Unknown

1704

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance 18th Century Landscape Mughal

Dominant colour

Princes hunting in a rocky landscape is a 1704 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, depicting Mughal, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1704 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a group of richly dressed men on horseback in a rocky landscape, falcons on their arms, while two lions attack one of the hunters. The soft colors make the violence feel quiet, almost polite. This kind of hunting scene was a favorite of Mughal rulers—it showed power, skill, and control over nature. The falcons and the way the men sit on their horses tell you these are princes, not ordinary hunters. If you like this, look up more paintings of Mughal, 16th century.

The story of this work

Overview

The subdued palette of this tinted drawing belies the dire events of the scene. A group of Mughal nobles out hunting with falcons has chanced upon two lions in the wilderness, and one of the men has been attacked. The bearded figure with the falcon at the upper left and the huntsman about to retrieve a duck caught by one of the trained falcons at the lower left are reminiscent of an earlier work, Hunting with Falcons in a Landscape ( CMA 2013.292 ), painted by a Persian artist. By the time this painting was made Akbar exerted more direct influence on his artists’ work, and it reveals his…