Late 17th - early 18th century

Love Scene on a Balcony

This drawing was done using the nim qalam (half-pen) technique, which involves the careful application of monochromatic lines with a fine brush to produce subtle gradations of tone. The artist has also accented the composition with color washes and gold. As is typical for Mughal album pages, the image has been set into an illuminated frame adorned with floral vines as well as rhyming Persian couplets whose subjects do not relate directly to the drawing. The royal connoisseurs for whom these albums were made saw a kinship in the arts of brush and pen that transcended subject matter.