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Sultan and Musicians

Unknown

1650

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Baroque Mughal Painting Baroque Portrait Deccan

Dominant colour

Sultan and Musicians is a 1650 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Deccan, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1650 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a man in white, seated on a terrace, surrounded by attendants and musicians. He's holding a hookah and has prayer beads in front of him. This painting shows a mix of royal and religious symbols, like the peacock-feather whisk, which is a sign of his high status. The artist included many details to show the sultan's wealth and piety. Check out the subject: mughal india.

The story of this work

Overview

The tone-on-tone pale mustard-yellow carpet and orange floor cushion furnish the terrace with a seat of honor for the figure dressed in white. The peacock-feather whisk held by an attendant behind him is an emblem of his royal status. Lying conspicuously before his knees, Muslim prayer beads mark him as a man of piety. He also partakes in courtly pleasures of hookah smoking and paan chewing. Green triangular paan packets consist of betel nut, lime, and flavorful aromatics such as cinnamon or coconut, wrapped in betel leaf. A brass spittoon by his side would be used for spitting throughout the…

Did you know?

The two singers with open mouths may be performing a work by a mystic of the Sufi branch of Islam, given the essential role of music in Sufism and the pious mood of the all-male gathering.

Read the full account in the museum source.