Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c19.33

c19.33

Another hunting scene, but of a much more thrilling nature, is illustrated on Plate XLIII. Jahangir refers to it as an adventure which happened to him when he was a prince, and it appears to have left a vivid impression on his mind.¹ Several pictures, varying in detail and all relating to the same incident, have survived, but this is one of the most realistic. The expression on the face of the *mahout* as he crouches on the neck of the elephant to escape the lion’s claws, and the incontinent manner in which the gun-bearer is leaving the howdah at the back, have been most cleverly portrayed. Plate XLIV depicts a picture of a very different kind, although it is of the chase. It has no specific title, but shows in the dead of night three hunters dressed in robes of greens and browns, and their heads covered with leaves, approaching the feeding grounds of the deer. As they cautiously draw near the game one of them tinkles a little bell and reflects a strong light from a curiously shaped lantern into their faces. The deer, fascinated or held spellbound by the unusual display, are seen falling an easy prey to the arrow of the hunter. It is a very beautiful conception in a scheme of low-toned colours with one strong note, the bright golden light from the lamp in the centre. Around is darkness, but relieved by various incidents carefully thought out and happily introduced. In the foreground two buffaloes are aroused by the noise, while near them are water birds roosting on a little pool covered with water-lilies; a *sādhū* dozing in front of his grass hut with his dog occupies the middle distance, and out of the gloom peers a straggling village silently sleeping at the foot of the hills. In the majority of these pictures of outdoor subjects the treatment of the landscape is instructive. Jahangir had a fondness for beautiful views, about which he often discourses in poetical language. Inspired by his example the court painters rose to considerable heights in their efforts to depict, truthfully and artistically, landscape effects in the backgrounds of their pictures. One of the best examples may be studied in a picture in the Rampur collection (Plate XIX), unfortunately almost too damaged for effective reproduction. The incident it depicts is fully described in the memoirs²—a fight between a snake and a huge spider (probably a land crab), which the emperor saw while on his way from Kabul in 1607. In its drawing and modelling the rocky scenery in the background of this miniature is very fine, the colouring also is exquisitely delicate, while the sense of aerial perspective is immediately felt in the planes of atmospheric blues and greys of the distance. Another attempt at landscape, but in a more romantic mood, may be studied on Plate XX, the details of the upper part of which are XLIV. Shooting deer at night; painted c. A.D. 1630; Bodleian Library, Oxford.