Maharao Umed Singh hunting tigers

Hailing from the Kota school of art, this painting depicts Maharao Umed Singh hunting tigers, painted by Hans Raj Joshi. Royal hunts were an important part of India's history as they were symbolic of bravery and courage of the kings and nobles of the time. Starting around 1660, Kota artists began producing remarkable depictions of rulers engaged in hunting, which, until the mid-eighteenth century, utilised calligraphic contour lines to portray animals with vibrant energy in richly textured environments. This subsequent hunting scene uses bold colors lavender, salmon, orange, and teal that contrast with the textured sage greens of the woods. The arrangement requires the audience to sift through the vegetation for a tiger depicted several times in a manner that possibly recalls the experience of hunting in the jungle. To the right, a tiger attacks one of the hunting servants. At the upper center, a nobleman, likely the formidable Zalim Singh, fires from a hunting stand at the tiger. The tiger then emerges on the left, rushing at Umed Singh, clad in camouflage green with a white halo, as he fires from a hunting platform. Above and below the tiger, there is the lattice structure designed to direct game toward the ruler