c. 1810-1820

Astrological Sign of Capricorn

Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac corresponding to December–January, is most often represented as a hybrid animal mingling the form of a goat with the hind quarters of a dragon. Here, instead, is the Indian black buck with a long, crocodile-like trunk that ends in a fish tail, the iconography of which derives from sixteenth-century Islamic Mughal Empire coins and paintings. The composite creature stands on the banks of a river in a highly detailed landscape setting, straddling the threshold between water and earth.