The game of wolf-running in Tabriz, from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) c. 1595-1600 Banavari 1 (Indian, active 1550s-1590s) Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Page: 35.2 x 23.8 cm (13 7/8 x 9 3/8 in.) Alma Kroeger Fund 2003.38 DID YOU KNOW? During extreme activities, turbans could come unwound and fall off. DESCRIPTION After four years of traveling in exile, fleeing Afghan forces, Humayun reached Tabriz, the glittering capital of the Safavid dynasty in northwestern Iran, here imaginatively rendered by the Indian artist. There the second Mughal emperor enjoyed warm hospitality extended by the shah of Iran, who called for a game of wolf-running for which the city was famous. Artists painting during the time of Akbar, late in his reign when historical subjects dominated, speculated as to how the game was played, based on eyewitness accounts. They gave the figures lively emotive expressions and gestures, and the dense crowding successfully conveys the pandemonium of the scene. INSCRIPTION signed by Banwari PROVENANCE Private Collection, London CITATIONS "Art of Asia Acquired by North American Museums, 2003-2004." Archives of Asian Art 56 (2006): pp. 109-32. Reproduced: p. 113, fig. 7 www.jstor.org EXHIBITION HISTORY Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115); August 13, 2003 - February 18, 2004. Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); July 2, 2014 - Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).