Shamsa (sunburst) with portrait of Aurangzeb (1618–1707), from the Emperor's Album (the Kevorkian Album)
illumination 1640–55; original portrait c. 1640–50; altered after 1658
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
painting only: 35.5 × 23.2 cm · page: 40 × 27.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
Accession Number
2013.331
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This closing page of an imperial Mughal album originally had the shamsa, or sunburst, with a plain gold disc in the center, referencing the light of God as divine sanction for Emperor Shah Jahan’s rule. The depiction of divine light by means of floral and geometric patterns was painted by hand with mathematical precision in gold and lapis lazuli. The portrait of Aurangzeb was probably added when he took over the imperial library after seizing the throne from his father, Shah Jahan, in 1658 and a...