id: 146185 accession number: 1971.78 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.78 updated: Portrait of the Aged Akbar, c. 1640–1650. Attributed to Govardhan (Indian, active c.1596–1645). Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; image: 25.2 x 16.8 cm (9 15/16 x 6 5/8 in.); overall: 27.5 x 18.8 cm (10 13/16 x 7 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1971.78 title: Portrait of the Aged Akbar title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1640–1650 creation date earliest: 1635 creation date latest: 1655 current location: creditline: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund copyright: --- culture: India, Mughal court, 17th century technique: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Govardhan (Indian, active c.1596–1645) - artist --- measurements: Image: 25.2 x 16.8 cm (9 15/16 x 6 5/8 in.); Overall: 27.5 x 18.8 cm (10 13/16 x 7 3/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Twain Shall Meet opening date: 1985-10-30T04:00:00 The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986). title: Treasury of the World: Jeweled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals opening date: 2002-02-24T00:00:00 Treasury of the World: Jeweled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals. The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 24-May 19, 2002). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115); August 13, 2003 - February 18, 2004.

Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115); August 18, 2004 - May 23, 2005.

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); July 2, 2014 - January 5, 2015. --- PROVENANCE MacDonald date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The soulful modeling of Akbar’s aged but dignified face argues strongly in favor of the attribution of this work to the imperial court artist Govardhan. This posthumous portrait of the celebrated third Mughal emperor would have been made at the end of his career for Akbar’s grandson Shah Jahan, who reigned from 1626 to 1648. Shah Jahan glorifies his own august lineage by lionizing Akbar and having him portrayed in a formal, symbolic way that Akbar himself never would have commissioned. Christian angels in European style praise him from the heavens, while mythical birds of paradise swoop at the edge of the radiance emitted from the nimbus of the divine light of his rule. He originally grasped an orb, which was changed to a necklace. The sensitively articulated body of a young cow reclines at ease in the presence of a lion, indicating the harmony and peace of his noble rule. The artist used the dignified nim-qalam style of painted drawing with only touches of gold and hints of color. Heavy outlines were added at a later date, along with pinprick holes used for copying the composition onto another sheet of paper. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 304 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n324 Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. page number: Reproduced: p. 353, fig. 55 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159914 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.78/1971.78_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.78/1971.78_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.78/1971.78_full.tif