Jain Ascetic Walking Along a Riverbank by Mughal Painter Basawan, c. 1600

Jain Ascetic Walking Along a Riverbank by Mughal Painter Basawan, c. 1600, housed today at The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland is a sensitively painted portrait made for the collection of the mughal emperor Akbar who was genuinely curious about the tenets of jainism. Shantichandra his disciple Bhanuchandra, Jinachandra and Siddhichandra, this portrait likely depicts one of them. Akbar admired the explanations of these Jain monks. The white clad jain monk carries a manuscript under his left arm bound in a red cover alluding to his wisdom while he also carries his basic monks accouterments, a whisk broom, a staff and an alms bowl. These mark him as a member of the vetmbara mrti-pjaka sect of jainism and the realistic treatment of this painting shows a clear familiarity with european artistic styles. It is a quiet celebration of intellectual curiosity across religious borders. Here was a Muslim emperor, arguably one of the most powerful rulers of his time, commissioning a portrait of a Jain monk walking serenely through a landscape treated with the same dignity and sensitivity he would extend to any nobleman. The monk carries no weapons no emblems of power, only knowledge, simplicity and discipline. The open sky above him filled with birds in flight feels like a metaphor for the kind of spiritual freedom that transcends dogma. Basawans genius is visible in the monks almost translucent white robe the softness of his expression and the lush green riverbank beneath his bare feet. There's a lived-in humanity to this figure, he is not idealized but real. That realism itself is a statement this mans faith is worth taking seriously worth painting with care.