India Office Library and Records, British Library, London, Johnson Album 1, no. 30.
Location History:
1605-1608: Mughal India
1807- Purchased by Richard Johnson Collection
Present- India Office Library, British Library, London
At glance Abu’l Hasan’s painting titled Squirrels in a Plane Tree looks like a lively picture of nature.. When you look closer you see that Squirrels in a Plane Tree is full of hidden meaning. The big plane tree, called chenar takes up most of the picture. Its light trunk splits into a canopy of brown leaves. Inside that canopy squirrels, birds and other small animals move around at heights. It feels like the whole scene is alive not just a still drawing of plants. The British Library says that Squirrels in a Plane Tree was made with gouache and gold and it belongs to Abu’l Hasan. The painting is dated 1605–08. A tiny barefoot child tries to climb the tree. This small figure is the striking part of Squirrels in a Plane Tree. The child looks very small compared to the tree and the animals seem not to notice. That creates a tension between what humans want to do and what nature does on its own. Some scholars have said that the small figure is not a squirrel hunter. They point out that the squirrels in Squirrels in a Plane Tree look like the ones from pictures and that the whole scene might have a deeper meaning. Because of all this Squirrels in a Plane Tree is more than a natural‑history drawing. The careful detail, the size and the European style show that the Jahangiri atelier was very curious about many cultures. The unclear meaning of Squirrels, in a Plane Tree also makes the viewer think about how humans fit into the world of nature.
Abu’l Hasan’s Squirrels in a Plane Tree (1605-08) is a Mughal masterpiece, which utilizes a lively natural media to illustrate the problematic relationship between man and nature. Although the huge chenar (plane tree) is filled with busy squirrels and birds, the real protagonist of this gouache and gold painting is a small barefoot child, who is trying to climb this massive tree. This naturalistic painting is not a mere curiosity; rather, it demonstrates a synthesis of European and Mughal pictorial traditions. The overall impression of the work is one of the vastness of nature and the insignificance of man. Thus, in this painting, the animals are portrayed in a way that showcases their detachment from the smaller scale of human endeavors, suggesting a deeper allegorical meaning.
