This is a particularly fine 20th century rendition of the famous miniature by Abu’l Hasan, 1589 – c1630 in the Musée Guimet, (Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG) Paris, in a frame of poppies and lilies from the Mughal bagh, mounted, 34cm x 28cm.
In his study of Mughal painting during Jahangir’s time, the art historian Asok Das made the inspired suggestion that a famous double portrait of Akbar and Jahangir commemorates this dream in which Akbar interceded on Aziz’s behalf. Here, a magnificently-dressed Jahangir is shown holding a portrait of Akbar who is dressed all in white. The difference in dress of the two emperors most likely reflects their individual tastes – Akbar is often shown in plain white garb in paintings made in his lifetime – but in this image the contrast of Akbar’s plain clothes with Jahangir’s golden brocade calls to mind the holy simplicity of Sufis. It suggests that Akbar has passed beyond the material realm. That this is a posthumous portrait is confirmed by the inscription on the orb that he holds: Shabih e Hazrat Arsh Ashiyani, amal Nadir-us-zaman. A portrait of the venerated one who dwells in Paradise, painted by the Wonder of the Age.
“The Wonder of the Age” was the title given by Jahangir to one of his most esteemed artists Abu’l Hasan. This is the artist who, in the following years, would author famous paintings such as Jahangir Embracing Shah Abbas and Jahangir Shooting Malik Ambar, which gave material form to the dreams and visions of Jahangir. Asok Das suggests that the double portrait showing Jahangir holding a painting of Akbar is Abu’l Hasan’s first attempt to make visible an interior vision that came to Jahangir as he slept.
Everything in the painting underlines the imperial status of the two figures within it. Against the deep blue-green ground, the two men – one white, one gold – seem to be beings entirely composed of light. Their identical halos tell us that their kingship is divinely endowed and their family resemblance reminds us of Jahangir’s legitimate right to be his father’s heir.
The textiles at the base of the two portraits, carpets draped over a window-sill, turn both portraits into images of jharokha darshan – a royal ritual instituted by Akbar, in which Mughal emperors appeared at a palace window twice a day to give worshipful viewers a glimpse of their sacred selves.
