mughalshit:Two Camels Fighting by ‘Abd al-Samad Indian, Mughal, circa 1590 (court at Fatehpu
mughalshit: Two Camels Fighting by ‘Abd al-Samad Indian, Mughal, circa 1590 (court at Fatehpur Sikri, or Lahore) Opaque watercolor and ink on paper This painting serves as both an homage to ‘Abd al-Samad’s lineage and an appeal to his son Muhammad Sharif not to lose sight of his artistic roots. The artist’s inscription tells us that he has painted this version of a famous original by the master Bihzad (ca. 1450–1535/36) from memory as a gift for his son to serve as a model of what is possible, even for an artist in his eighty-fifth year. The work is a testimony to the dazzling verisimilitude that the finest painters could achieve; witness the power of observation and the skill at rendering every minutia. ‘Abd al-Samad was a master trained in the Persian school, where technical virtuosity was prized equally with poetic sensibility. -- source link