Akbar

Portraiture is usually the depiction of a person's likeness, but equally relevant is the atmosphere arrived at around the central figure. This is nowhere more true than in Indian miniature painting where the overall effect is the principle element of interest in a composition. The artist here has succeeded in capturing the whole aura of Akbar's personality.

Akbar inherited an unstable, insecure and mismanaged Mughal Empire, when he was hardly fourteen. Thus before proving himself an Emperor, he had to show himself as an able soldier and wade his way through upheavals and uncertainties. Indeed he proved himself upto the task. Thus Akbar's early phase of life was essentially a soldier's. In the Akbar-Nama, which is more or less an authentic record of his reign, the young Akbar has invariably been portrayed attired in a soldier's costume.

In this portrait, the artist, perhaps in awe of the personality cult of the Great Mughals, has shown Akbar in an ambience of magnificent riches and cast his face teeming with youthfulness, but in contrast, the majesticity and splendor with which he has been rendered defines the elderly phase of his life. Thus by combining these two distinct phases of his life, the artist has managed to achieve a 'complete' portrait of Akbar, the Great Mughal.

Fabulously bejeweled and magnificently costumed is the central figure of Akbar. His seat is lavishly inlaid with precious stones and a couple of finely carved lions define the arm-rests. A curtain, half dropped, allows the viewer to view the distant landscape, vividly and beautifully laid.

With his blunt bold line work and broad patterns, the artist has managed to capture the features unique to the art style of Akbar's era.

Description by Dr. Daljeet. Dr. Daljeet is Curator, National Museum of India, New Delhi.