Nur Jahan on a terrace with attendants
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Watercolor |
| Current Location: | The painting was recorded to have been in Venice,Italy in 1894 but later moved to auction houses like Sotheby\'s in 2015 and Christie\'s and is now at a private collection. |
| Location History: | It was created in the mughal court in 1740 and was later brought to Venice,Italy in 1894 but later moved to auction houses like Sotheby's in 2015 and Christie's and is now at a private collection. |
Nur Jahan on a Terrace with Attendants is an 18th-century Mughal miniature painting by master artist Nidha Mal (circa 1740) depicting the legendary empress smoking a huqqa with detailed views of Delhi in the background. Painted during the later Mughal period under Emperor Muhammad Shah’s reign, showcasing refined brushwork and fine gold-heightened opaque pigments on paper.The painting features Nidha Mal's distinct facial styling for female figures, notably soft pouting lips and gently curved noses. A calm open-air palace terrace juxtaposed with a sweeping vista of the capital city's gardens and landscape down below. Though painted over a century after Nur Jahan's actual life and rule alongside Emperor Jahangir, 18th-century artists often romanticized her as an archetype of supreme royal grace, intellect, and political agency. The quiet act of enjoying a huqqa surrounded by watchful attendants conveys an atmosphere of serene aristocratic seclusion, feminine power, and private contemplation.