c. 1590
The Mughal Ruler Humayun Receives a Traitor's Head
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This page, from the first of several illustrated copies of the Akbarnama commissioned by the Emperor Akbar, reveals how artists in the imperial Mughal workshop blended indigenous Indian and Persian painting traditions. Indian features include the use of bold colors, dramatic poses, and substantial bodies. Persian characteristics include the modulated colors, fleshlike rocks, forward-tilting picture plane, and faces in smooth three-quarter profile. Rather than being placed as a caption at the top or back of the page, as in works done for Hindu patrons of the time, the rectangle of text is placed in the middle of the composition following Persian tradition.
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