Page 209 - Eye of the beholder

His reign was ill fated as his three brothers were a constant threat, but worse still were the Afghans, led by Sher Shah Sur, an erstwhile noble of Babur who seized Bengal and challenged Humayun for the rest of Hindustan, which he ultimately did in 1539, making Humayun a refugee untill he found a safe haven in the Safavid ruler’s court of Shah Tahmasp. He regained his throne in 1555 but dies the following year in 1556.
Humayun’s choice of Persian artists Abdus Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali was consistent to naturalism already apparent in Babur’s prose. Of all Shah Tahmasp artists Mir Sayyid Ali was the most intelligent and sharp observer of the reality capable of reproducing textures of any object from fur, metal or even an odd bump on a nose. Abdus Samad was less gifted but more flexible. He was responsible for one of the illustrations from Timur Nama that has survived, which Humayun commissioned while stationed at Kabul. It was grand in scale, sumptuous in colour and an absolute reflection of Humayun’s royal taste. This particular painting is a major monument of early Mughal art, thus establishing Humayun as an aesthete.
Humayun’s portrait is in three quarter profile and he stands in profile with a blue nimbus around his head instead of gold. He is very simply dressed wearing a white jama and yellow boots. A shawl is draped around his neck in a combination of brown, green and orange. His right hand holds a white flower and the left rests on his sword. There is also a shield and a sword hanging from around his neck reaching down to his knees.
The turban on his head is simple with two feathers attached to it. The eyes are dreamy and look in the distance while his moustache and beard gives him a commanding presence. It is an intriguing portrait of a Mughal monarch, shorn of an aura of aristocracy and appearing more like a noble courtier. The background is plain without a hint f landscape or royal palace. A white patch of band can be seen at the top while at the bottom is a yellow patch.
PROVINCIAL MUGHAL
A COUPLE WITH ATTENDANT ON VERANDA FROM AWADH
The painting belonging to 19th century from the region of Awadh is a water colour on Wasli paper. Awadh or Oudh, located in the northeastern province of Uttar Pradesh, was once ruled by the Nawabs of Awadh (1722–1856), who gained autonomy during the disintegration of the Mughal Empire. Though they achieved their independence they had to contend with the rise of the East India Company. After a decisive victory in the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the East India Company used Awadh as an effective buffer state against encroaching powers such as the Marathas and the Rohillas.
The art of Awadh underscores this complicated, connected history, with Awadhi miniature painting in particular characterized as eclectic, weaving a hybrid of Persian, Mughal, Indic, and European visual vocabularies. A testament to the interregional dialogue occurring within the country at the time, Awadhi miniatures drew from a variety of painting techniques and were overall invested in the depiction of "light and shadows and a more accurate rendition of volume and space" Many of the artists migrated to cities within Awadh, such as Faizabad and Lucknow, after the ruler of Persia, Nadir Shah, sacked Delhi and devastated the Mughal army in 1739. At this juncture, there was an enmeshed network of artistic patronage spurred by courtly elites and also by European traders. Awadh court witnessed an influx of artists talented and skilled having lost patronage with the declining power of the Mughal Empire.
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