Objects, images, descriptions and audio guide.
The ruler of the small princely state of Kota, dressed as a priest of the Pushti Marg sect, holds a lamp with five flames. He pays homage to a triad of metal images with…
In this hanging scroll, a scholar and his attendant contemplate a waterfall. A light breeze lifts the scholar’s robe and blows the tree leaves, suggesting movement. Luo …
Emperor Muhammad Shah rekindled an imperial interest in Hinduism that had not been so strong since the time of Akbar, 150 years before. He commissioned this painting tha…
This page provides the genealogy of the donor, who is from the Shaurani branch of the Ukesa family, which was prominent in Gujarat. Jain manuscripts of the Kalpa-sutra a…
In a retelling of the Ramayana from the 1200s, the blue god Vishnu appears in a vision to Queen Kaushalya just before she gives birth to his incarnation as Rama. In the …
Palm-leaf manuscripts in the pothi format are recognizable by their long and horizontal shapes. In contrast to Western-style books that require one to turn the pages lef…
Although born into a wealthy merchant family, St. Francis (1181-1226) rejected all wordly goods, dedicating himself to chastity, humility, and selfless acts of kindness.…
In 1635, Rosa left his native Naples for Rome, the undisputed art center of the 17th century, where a new type of landscape painting was emerging, distinguished by the e…
Under golden stars and a crescent moon, a royal woman offers a flower garland at an open-air shrine to the Hindu god Shiva. Installed on a platform under a sapling, the …
Under golden stars and a crescent moon, a royal woman offers a flower garland at an open-air shrine to the Hindu god Shiva. Installed on a platform under a sapling, the …
Images of pleasure and play abound in Mughal paintings of the latter half of the 1700s. Under a full moon reflected off a river and by the light of candles, a prince cel…
Images of pleasure and play abound in Mughal paintings of the latter half of the 1700s. Under a full moon reflected off a river and by the light of candles, a prince cel…
This true-to-life portrait depicts the maternal uncle of the Mughal prince Khurram (1592-1658), who would later become the emperor Shah Jahan. His clothing and accessori…
This painting of Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the infant Jesus is based on European sources, but it also contains several details that are specifically Indian. For examp…
This painting is from a biography of Akbar made shortly before his death. It depicts a historical event from early in his reign when he encountered a herd of wild elepha…
The first Mughal emperor Babur sits enthroned as men bring gifts and sacks of tribute to mark a successful expansion of his territories. Emblematic of his role in leadin…
Seated on a lapis-blue floral carpet is Chingiz (Genghis) Khan’s grandson, who ruled Iran from 1256 to 1265. This painting is from an illustrated copy of the history of …
The kneeling figure is a charlatan holy man who wears the blue robe of a Sufi mystic. According to the inscriptions above and below the painting, he acts humble and piou…
The Turkic conqueror Timur (1336–1405) is the Mughal emperor Akbar’s most celebrated paternal ancestor. He sits on a terrace, shaded by a crimson awning. The blue carpet…
After four years of traveling in exile, fleeing Afghan forces, Humayun reached Tabriz, the glittering capital of the Safavid dynasty in northwestern Iran, here imaginati…
A king sent the courtesans to a forest ashram to convince the ascetic boy Rishyashringa to come back with them to the palace. The king believes that Rishyashringa's pres…
Nakamura Hōchū painted waves on this handheld fan to bring coolness to the mind of its bearer. While fragile paper fans are often used for a single season, this one was …
This unmounted handscroll is a copy of the first of a three-scroll set painted by Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795) for Buddhist monk Yujō (1723–1773). It depicts people's unfor…
Buddhist disciples are grouped around a dragon in the lower right part of the scroll. The figures' varying levels of composure at the miraculous appearance of the dragon…