Shah Jahan holding a spinel and a long Deccan sword, from the Late Shah Jahan Album

Cleveland Museum of Art

Shah Jahan holding a spinel and a long Deccan sword, from the Late Shah Jahan Album

HashimLinkedCulture matchlcp-8fc495a7ce8a

Date
c. 1650
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Culture
India, Mughal, 17th century
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
170840

What the image shows

A figure in ornate attire stands on a grassy mound, holding a staff, with celestial beings and animals in the background.

Generated by LinkedCulture from the photograph alone, without the museum’s catalogue text (Qwen/Qwen2.5-VL-7B-Instruct), and not yet reviewed by a person. It describes the picture, not the object’s history, and it is not part of the museum’s record.

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

This page came from an imperial album assembled for Shah Jahan toward the end of his reign. Only portraits of the emperors have angels hovering with a crown in the top border along with the predator peacefully paired with his prey below. Shah Jahan chose to link these symbols of peace and justice with divine sanction for his rule, as indicated by the light of the sun and moon behind his head. Royal retainers carry emblems of sovereignty in the left border. Imperial Mughal painting reached a pinnacle of refinement and formality under Shah Jahan. The artists reveal astonishing skill in their ability to render the subtle texture of the feather in his turban crest, the gleam of every jewel, the softness of his beard, and the delicacy of his costly translucent muslin robe. In his hand Shah Jahan holds a ruby-like gemstone called a spinel, prized among the Mughals for its talismanic properties of protection during battle. The finest fabric was the most transparent, like the Emperor’s New Clothes.

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Open this page QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.5V_NzS1KQao8K5sy.bI3zDXJLqUtgG0ky3nU1BRjdmcU2d0gYMe7DYTDFc9TlvP8e8dRhYDV8crhnAYJYx_GKYtFXoclWyK4N4Ze2ZADfoPFEN4SB4Zh4hgmXvbui_AupN_PmvhTHi1kebshK1hzJ40bO5FmVPDMFsY-7HDeHxmrx8891YrW-EXmLAAn2iaojQSbmW3q7TQVRiza9jHLMi-iQZAMKMzWo4500P-7BD0wdiJOVHCKAA7n287n0vDTeLo9Xgij55sA5MREpu3k04zHp14ELeqjuer0Saqa0fui5aciTs-gXcUDxHZFtYAgCxgSee at Cleveland Museum of Art QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.Cjr4vdrqA8Y7yy0f.Ba2Ry1eNNevUnQKxzzTD_4GLpo_kMcebYqHK3pkJ8MA4n5KnGzfMK7ZKbHrABHFveSJLCJqqaDm-PS7LIwbcCBCXEWkami2TGyF5HBNlUnJ-SHkS3ICMYHTxVIanXo10lprLUIESkZD3MGOHXwTyeufWBVoKJ-4hf1agaIxkOa3R6zPXneuHk-q4MeXZjsnAC42QbXg5ALNHJWgaBcQeRMlvkyS3N6sD8QMrDjviCJHh4Y8AkNA_IKwiYVY-wBD41KkIsiK4KtHyJk8faSINjnsXVbzq4fM6GbAz4-ZTng
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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
Provenance
10 July 1968: Sotheby’s, London, Western, Oriental and Hebrew Manuscripts and Miniatures, 10 July 1968 sale, lot 18 | 1968–2013: Ralph Benkaim [1914–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 2013-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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