Harvard Art Museums / Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Location History:
Created in Mughal India around 1617, the painting relates to Bishandas’s diplomatic mission to the Safavid court. It later entered Stuart Cary Welch Jr.’s collection and was gifted to Harvard Art Museums, where it remains today.
This painting is of Shah Abbas I who was the king of Persia at that time. Bishan Das made this painting. He was a very good artist in the court of Mughal emperor Jahangir. Jahangir always said that Bishan Das is the best in making real looking portraits of people. He sent Bishan Das with a group to Persia to paint the Shah and his important people. Bishan Das stayed there from around 1613 to 1619.
In this picture the Shah is standing with his hands on his hips. He is wearing orange colour clothes and a green turban. There is a sword with blue cover hanging by his side. The background is plain dark green colour so we can see the face and body clearly. The face of the Shah looks calm and confident, not like some big hero pose. It looks like real person.
Bishan Das was very clever in catching the real look of the person. That is why Jahangir liked his work so much. When Bishan Das came back from Persia, the emperor gave him an elephant as gift because the paintings were so good. This painting is now in British Museum in London. It is made on paper with opaque water colour and some gold.
I think this artwork shows how Mughal artists were good in making natural portraits. It also shows the friendship and talks between Mughal and Persian kings. Bishan Das was Hindu artist but he worked for Muslim emperor and even painted Persian king. This is interesting part of history for me.
Portrait of Shah Abbas I by Bishan Das is a fine example of Jahangir-period Mughal naturalistic portraiture, dating to around 1617–18. Bishan Das, renowned for his skill in capturing realistic likenesses, was sent with the Mughal ambassador Khan ‘Alam to the Safavid court of Shah Abbas I.
