A Prince Riding an Elephant in Procession
Unknown Artist
ca. 1570
Medium
Opaque color and gold on cotton cloth
Dimensions
Image: Ht. 13 3/8 in. (34 cm) W. 15 11/16 in. (39.8 cm) Frame: Ht. 21 1/8 in. (53.7 cm) W. 18 7/8 in. (47.9 cm) D. 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions, Harris Brisbane Dick, and 2020 Benefit Funds; Howard S. and Nancy Marks, Lila Acheson Wallace, and Friends of Islamic Art Gifts; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; and funds from various donors, 2022
Accession Number
2022.173
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this vibrant painting, a richly adorned elephant dominates the center, carrying a prince dressed in flowing red and beige garments as he gestures forward. Smaller elephants and mounted attendants in colorful tunics surround the scene, some raising staffs or blowing horns, while horses and figures on foot add to the sense of movement across a pale, textured ground. Gold highlights accent the animals’ trappings and the figures’ clothing, all rendered in opaque pigments on cotton cloth that shows gentle wear from age. Created around 1570 by an unknown artist, *A Prince Riding an Elephant in Procession* belongs to the tradition of Indian court painting preserved in the Metropolitan Museum’s Islamic Art collection. Such works often celebrated royal ceremonies and the spectacle of processions, using bold color and gold to convey both status and narrative energy. Acquired through the Howard Hodgkin Collection, the painting offers visitors a window into the visual language of sixteenth-century South Asian courts.