1618 (ca.), Bichitr, Jahangir preferring a Sufi shaykh to kings, folio from the Saint Petersburg Album -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label:
The dreams of Islamic rulers were often likened to the divine predictions of saints. But it was only the emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605-27) who had artists make his dreams visible. In this way, painters helped Jahangir establish both his earthly and spiritual authority. Meticulously painted in jewel-like colors, Bichitr's painting carefully projects a balance of power. While Jahangir gifts a fine book to the sainted leader of a Sufi lineage, his more mundane contemporaries-King James I of England and an Ottoman sultan-merely observe.
1618 (ca.), Bichitr, Jahangir preferring a Sufi shaykh to kings, folio from the Saint Petersburg Album -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label:
The dreams of Islamic rulers were often likened to the divine predictions of saints. But it was only the emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605-27) who had artists make his dreams visible. In this way, painters helped Jahangir establish both his earthly and spiritual authority. Meticulously painted in jewel-like colors, Bichitr's painting carefully projects a balance of power. While Jahangir gifts a fine book to the sainted leader of a Sufi lineage, his more mundane contemporaries-King James I of England and an Ottoman sultan-merely observe.