Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London. Accession number: IS.2:93-1896
This particular folio from the Victoria and Albert Museum's Akbarnama Manuscript depicts the Mughal emperor Akbar inspecting the animals killed as part of a hunt, at night lit by torches. The Persian inscription underneath the painting in question mentions the names of the two artists who collaborated in the creation of this particular piece and translates to "composition by Lal, work by Kesav Khord", with Lal being the designer and Kesav Khord being the artist who finished the coloring of the piece.
The artist Lal has, to his credit, the greatest number of paintings in this particular manuscript, and the specific folio here sheds light on his position as a designer rather than a colorist; this distinction is an important point to pay close attention to, as much of his documented work across the Akbarnama shows him working in both capacities.
The folio is quite different from the ones commonly found in the manuscript, as this particular scene is depicted at night and therefore poses a distinct visual challenge to create a painting that convincingly translates the image of a night illuminated by the light of torches. The torches therefore appear to act as anchor points guiding the viewer's eyes.
In this painting one can observe that Akbar the Mughal emperor, is seen inspecting those animals which are killed during hunting. Hunting was one of the hobbies of the Mughal emperors. There are many people who are accompanying Akbar. Lit torches suggests that it must be night time.
