Circumcision ceremony for Akbar’s sons
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Watercolor |
| Current Location: | The Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. |
| Location History: | The provenance of the Akbarnama folio “Circumcision Ceremony for Akbar’s Sons” is a perfect example of the history of many manuscripts that have left India’s royal libraries and been stored in the art collections of European museums. The miniature was first painted in the Mughal Imperial Atelier in northern India in 1602-1603. Since then, the piece was kept in the emperor’s library until the Mughal Empire’s treasury was opened to the public. Eventually, the painting was sold in Paris and New York in the early 20th century to a private collector named John D. Macdonald, who was based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Before the purchase, the artwork was in the possession of renowned Paris and New York antique dealers, Georges Demotte and Dikran Kelekian, who were experts in Islamic and Near Eastern paintings, sculptures, and manuscripts. In 1971, the Cleveland Museum of Art purchased the miniature from the Macdonald collection with the help of the Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund. |
This incredible excerpt of the manuscript is taken from the Akbarnama, the biography of the Mughal Emperor, the work of Abu'l-Fazl. It is executed in gum, ink, and gold leaf on paper in about 1602-1603, and the authorship of the work is attributed to the outstanding master of the court painter Dharam Das (Dharamdas). It represents the magnificent public holiday that was celebrated for the three days on October 22, 1573, which commemorated the Emperor’s three sons’ circumcision and marked the foundation anniversary of the new imperial city of Fatehpur Sikri. The painting shows the multi-day festive festival of the Mughal court which was filled with public charity events, pageant displays, and performances to demonstrate the wealth and power of the Mughal court. Dharam Das divided the painting into several parts to depict the different festivities, where the artist portrays both the crowded square and the inside palace court. The artists show a collection of characters, who perform various activities and interactions in their daily duties and interactions, set against the backdrop of a wider royal environment. The top, left corner of the painting represents a young and powerful Emperor, Akbar, who sits on a gilded hexagon chair, showing remarkable composure. He wears modest clothes, such as a white jama (turban) and a curved dagger in a red velvet belt around his golden waist. In contrast, to him, female dancers in colorful Chaghatai Turkish dresses spin and perform to the accompaniment of drum and percussion music. Their bright costumes, lively movements, and facial expressions create an impression of motion while standing out against the stability of the palace architecture and the Emperor’s composed demeanor. In the bottom part of the painting, we see the tumultuous proceedings of a public charity event, as seen by the attendants throwing gold coins to the poor and holy men in the square. Such events were conducted to symbolize the wealth of the Emperor since his riches could be measured in gold coinage by the people. The painter also demonstrates his extraordinary precision and creative skills when depicting smaller elements, such as the perched hunting falcon on an attendant’s gloved hand and the intricate floral patterns of the gold-lettered borders containing mythical figures.
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