{
"data": {
"id": 170848,
"accession_number": "2013.331",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Shamsa (sunburst) with portrait of Aurangzeb (1618\u20131707), from the Emperor's Album (the Kevorkian Album), illumination 1640\u201355; original portrait c. 1640\u201350; altered after 1658. Probably by Bichitr (Indian, active c. 1615\u201350). Gum tempera and gold on paper; page: 40 x 27.7 cm (15 3/4 x 10 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, 2013.331",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Shamsa (sunburst) with portrait of Aurangzeb (1618\u20131707), from the Emperor's Album (the Kevorkian Album)",
"creation_date": "illumination 1640\u201355; original portrait c. 1640\u201350; altered after 1658",
"creation_date_earliest": 1640,
"creation_date_latest": 1663,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"India, Mughal court, made for Shah Jahan"
],
"technique": "Gum tempera and gold on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art",
"type": "Painting",
"measurements": "Page: 40 x 27.7 cm (15 3/4 x 10 7/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"page": {
"height": 0.4,
"height_inch": 15,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.75,
"width": 0.277,
"width_inch": 10,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.875
},
"painting only": {
"height": 0.355,
"height_inch": 14,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.0,
"width": 0.232,
"width_inch": 9,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.125
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "inscribed below Shamsa: Padshah Jahan; inscribed below portrait : 'amal-i Bichitr",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "Persian inscription below shamsa (sunburst), in nasta\u2018liq script: \nGreat King Shah Jahan",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "Persian inscription below portrait, in nasta\u2018liq script: \nthe work of Bichitr",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 203111,
"title": "Art and Stories from Mughal India",
"description": "Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).",
"opening_date": "2016-07-31T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 665435,
"title": "Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior",
"description": "Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 14-June 8, 2025).",
"opening_date": "2025-02-14T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 31, 2013- June 30, 2014).",
"opening_date": "2013-12-31T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Ralph Benkaim [1914\u20132001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "December 1967\u20132013",
"sortorder": 3
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "2013\u2013",
"sortorder": 4
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "Tooling the gold cloud motif with pinpricks makes it catch more light and shimmer.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "This closing page of an imperial Mughal album originally had the shamsa, or sunburst, with a plain gold disc in the center, referencing the light of God as divine sanction for Emperor Shah Jahan\u2019s rule. The depiction of divine light by means of floral and geometric patterns was painted by hand with mathematical precision in gold and lapis lazuli. The portrait of Aurangzeb was probably added when he took over the imperial library after seizing the throne from his father, Shah Jahan, in 1658 and adopting the name Alamgir, which means \u201cSeizer of the Universe.\u201d The string of prayer beads in his right hand points to his extreme religious orthodoxy, which dramatically altered the culture of the Mughal court from what had previously been an openly ecumenical center.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60481927"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2013.331-shamsa-sunburst-with"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie. \"2013 Acquisitions: Indian and Southeast Asian Art .\u201d Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 2 (March/April 2014): 13.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 12; Mentioned: p. 13",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2014-02"
},
{
"citation": "Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. 58, pp. 237\u2013238",
"url": ""
}
],
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"description": "Bichitr (Indian, active c. 1615\u201350)",
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"alternate_titles": [
"An Illuminated Opening Page from the Emperor's Album (the Kevorkian Album) with a Portrait of Emperor Aurangzeb"
],
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 08:47:07.676000"
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