Cleveland Museum of Art

Opium Smokers Served Fruit and Bread

Date

c. 1750

Medium

Gum tempera and gold on paper

Culture

India, Mughal Dynasty (1526-1756)

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

A red sandstone terrace and veranda covered with a straw mat is the setting for an assemblage of more than 30 religious figures and nobles, most of whom are depicted in varying stages of intoxication and hangovers. To the left of center is a female ascetic wearing a peach-colored robe, and throughout the composition Sufi mystics wearing blue are interspersed with white-robed clerics and Mughal nobles. Some lucidly engage in discussions, while others prepare, ingest, and experience the effects of cannabis or opium known to have been taken regularly by those seeking mind-altering states. Watermelons, apples, and flatbread are being distributed among the assembled guests.

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