Congregation of birds

Around 1600, Mani’s Congregation of Birds is a single-page drawing that delicately mixes more than twenty different birds in a tranquil landscape. Beneath the branches of a tree are peacocks, a turkey, mallard ducks, an ostrich, a flamingo and several smaller birds, all portrayed with their own shape, posture and character. Some are looking directly at the viewer, others are turned to the side or away, creating the impression that we are looking at an actual flock of birds, not a series of repeated studies. The surrounding landscape is quite simple. There are trees, there are hills in the distance, there are little buildings that suggest a village, but none of these details ever compete with the birds. Instead they create a sense of space for the scene and make the gathering feel as if it is part of an actual landscape. What is particularly remarkable is the care with which Mani has observed the bodies of the birds. The proportions, poses and features are so different and yet clearly marked out, showing how closely the artist must have studied them. The opaque watercolour and gold soften the drawing and emphasise the small details of the feathers and bodies. Between the branches is an inscription identifying the artist: *raqamahu Mani*. Mani was a colourist in the Mughal court workshop under Akbar, active in the workshop between about 1580 and 1600. This work is proof that he was capable of much more than merely adding colour to the compositions of other painters. The birds are studied with care from different angles, frontal, three quarter and profile, indicating a real interest in their shapes. The painting also reflects the growing Mughal interest in nature. Detailed studies of birds and animals were already present in early Mughal manuscripts such as the Baburnama, but at this period artists were starting to produce such studies as independent works, not merely as illustrations for a written text. What is particularly attractive about Congregation of Birds is that it is both a close observation, and an artistic delight. It is obvious that Mani intended to depict the differences between the birds, but he also set up a scene that appears lively and inquisitive. The birds seem to have just assembled themselves, each one enjoying its own company. The softly rolling background landscape lends the whole image a placid, even intimate, feeling.