HISTORICAL PERIOD(S) Mughal dynasty, Reign of Jahangir, ca. 1640-50 MOVEMENT Mughal Court SCHOOL Mughal School MEDIUM Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper DIMENSIONS H x W: 25.2 x 14.2 cm (9 15/16 x 5 9/16 in) GEOGRAPHY North India CREDIT LINE Gift of Charles Lang Freer COLLECTION Freer Gallery of Art ACCESSION NUMBER F1907.258 ON VIEW LOCATION Currently not on view CLASSIFICATION(S) Album, Painting TYPE Album leaf with painting PROVENANCE To 1907 Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), London, to 1907 [1] From 1907 to 1919 Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna in 1907 [2] From 1920 Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3] Notes: [1] See Original List of Persian and Indian Drawings, S.I. 1564, Miscellaneous section of Inventory, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. [2] See note 1. [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery. PREVIOUS OWNER(S) Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (C.L. Freer source) 1839-1914 Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919 The powerful empress Nur Jahan (1577-1645) was an ardent patron of gardens. This intimate composition depicts the empress relaxing with her husband, Jahangir, and Prince Khurram, the future emperor Shah Jahan, in what is almost certainly the Ram Bagh garden. Nur Jahan remodeled this Agra garden in 1621, shortly before the painting was created. The Ram Bagh epitomizes the imperial Mughal (1526-1858) garden aesthetic that thoroughly integrated nature and architecture. Carpets like fields of flowers, wall paintings of cypresses, open porches with blossom-adorned columns, and water channels that ran from exterior to interior contributed to a fluid, delightful whole. Delicately scented breezes and burbling fountains further set the stage for royal pastimes.

Mughal-Library