A Himalayan blue-throated barbet perched on a branch.

Mansur’s work extends from the late 1580s right through to the mid 1620s, spanning the reigns of two Mughal emperors (Akbar and Jahangir) and largely in the field of natural history. His early work was in the Baburnama and Akbarnama where his acute observation of the postures of the animals and birds against a very plain background of landscape was already in evidence and became his trademark. He was also a very accomplished illuminator and designer from the mid 1590s onwards, whilst the elder masters were concentrating on the large-scale historical paintings. His work on the ornamental title pages (sarawals and unwans) for the major imperial contracts is well documented through the inscribed colophons and manuscript openings. His mastery of ornamental illumination reached its peak in the Muraqqa'-e Gulshan (Gulshan Album), which Prince Salim had originally commissioned. For this book he produced absolutely stunning endpapers with actual and imagined creatures (fights between dragons and elephants being a particular favourite) and a very rich array of marginal decoration with animals, birds and figural vignettes. His work really came into its own when Salim became Emperor Jahangir. Where his contemporaries would have treated nature as a mere background to sport and to territorial conquest, Jahangir was a man of a very different mindset and he gave Mansur the opportunity to work on animal painting as the primary subject. It was this deep empathy for his subject which set him apart from his predecessors. Jahangir’s own profound intellectual interest in the scientific study of animal behaviour, anatomical anomalies, modes of breeding and the geographical distribution of species is fully documented in his memoir, the Jahangirnama. This was the very environment in which Mansur flourished and it was in this capacity that he was commissioned by the Emperor to record a number of rare species, including a particularly unusual falcon which the ruler of Iran had sent to the imperial court in 1619. Under Jahangir he was awarded the honourific title of Nadir al-Asr ("Rarity of the Age”). Exotic animals were of the essence of diplomacy and political influence in the Mughal Empire, particularly under Jahangir. Foreign rulers would send exotic animals as a means of securing favour and Jahangir in turn would send back as a gift, animals of great value (hunting cheetahs and the like) and imperial artworks to cement the alliance. Jahangir left behind a legacy of immense significance in that he was the first Mughal emperor to truly bring the culture of the court into harmony with the scientific study of nature and to recognise the animal as a unique being in its own right, worthy of serious study and artistic devotion rather than merely as a means of fun or as a symbol. (Alvi, 1999) Mansur was a man who went with the Emperor on all his expeditions and saw the country first hand. Jahangir went to Kashmir in the spring of 1620 to take in the beauty of the place which he described as the “botanical garden in spring" and Mansur recorded this in his memoirs. In contrast to the earlier traditions of the period where the flowers were merely a decorative element, the flowers in these paintings are the subject in themselves and are depicted in great detail, against very plain backgrounds. This was a new genre which brought art and science together in a very real sense. The artists such as Mansur were able to capture the minute detail of the flower, using the rich, vibrant mineral pigments to render the textures and colours of the flower. The imperial album thus became a scientific record in its own right and in a sense elevated the study of botany to the level of high art, combining the empirical with the aesthetic and the courtly. The work of Mansur was to a large extent a fine line brush work with very delicate layers of colour to give the subject the exotic quality which was required and the subject was always set against a very simple background of a tree branch with just a few indications of grass or wildflowers (Guy & Britschgi, 2011). The painting of the blue throated barbet (Megalaima asiatica) was made for Jahangir by the artist Mansur. This bird is native to the foothills of the Himalayas and to Kashmir where Jahangir made several visits during his reign and took artists such as Mansur with him. It is a work in opaque watercolour and gold on paper. The red, blue and green are very vivid and the bird is very much in focus. The way the bird is shown with its beak down and the very simple background of the tree branch gives it a very courtly and sophisticated feel. It is set within a slim border which contains Persian verses, the verses being enclosed in an indigo background of gold palmettes and the whole thing is contained within a wider border of flowers and leafy plants. In the early Mughal works the flowers were not in any sense independent of the composition; they were simply a decorative element in the pattern which was based on Persian models and were used to fill in the blank areas or to add to the general opulence of the very intricate court scenes. This painting is an example of the use of the flowers and leafy motifs to fill in the excessive empty space. In black ink immediately beneath the painting on the border is the inscription "amal-e nader al-asr Ostad Mansur naqqash” which translates as "Works of wonder of the Age Ostad Mansur".