26 nov 1620 - Jahamgir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings

Description:

Date: 1620 CE

Artist: Bichitr

Medium: watercolor, gold, and ink on paper

Location: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Function:
- Jahangir has many artists follow him to record everything

Form:
- Jahngir sought to bring things from distant lands
- seated on an hourglass throne; sands of time run out; Jahngir near the end
- surrounded by a halo of the sun and moon; Jahangir is the source of all light
- Cross-cultural influences: sits on a Renaissance carpet; figures of small cherubs copied from European paintings
- Artist holds a miniature with two horses and an elephant --- perhaps gifts from his patron
- James I of England in lower left corner
- Ottoman Sultan
- Holy Man is handed a book by jahangir, or perhaps the Holy Man is handing Jahangir the book; Holy men placed above and ranks higher than all others

Comparison:
- Cotsiogo, Hide Painting of a Sun Dance
- Cabrera, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
- Lindauer, Tamati Waka Nene