"Emperor Babur Receiving a Visitor", Folio from a Baburnama (The Book of Babur)
Unknown Artist
ca. 1590
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Page: H. 14 in. (35.6 cm) W. 9 in. (22.8 cm) Painting (with margins): H. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm) W 5 13/16 in. (14.7 cm) Painting: H. 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm) W. x 4 15/16 in. (12.6 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Louis V. Bell Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.266.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Emperor Babur Receiving a Visitor" is a captivating folio from the *Baburnama*, the memoir of Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur (1483–1530), the Timurid prince who founded the Mughal Empire in India in 1526. Written in Chagatai Turkish, Babur's autobiography offers intimate insights into his life, conquests, and observations on nature, poetry, and governance. This illustration, created around 1590 during the reign of Babur's grandson Akbar, depicts the emperor graciously welcoming a guest, embodying the Mughal ideal of refined courtly etiquette and hospitality. Such folios were part of luxurious il...