↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · late 1790s
Cherry Blossoms in the Wind
Utagawa Toyokuni
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) · c. 1590
Mughal ruler Humayun defeating the Afghans before reconquering India, folio from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602)
Creator not recorded by the museum
- Date
- c. 1590
- Medium
- Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 31.2 x 18.6 cm (12 5/16 x 7 5/16 in.); Overall: 36.5 x 23.1 cm (14 3/8 x 9 1/8 in.)
- Country / context
- India
- Movement / tradition
- South Asian arts
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- South Asian arts ↗
FROM THE MUSEUM
In a battle that took place in 1555, the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, reconquered northern India from the Afghans with the help of Iranian military forces. His mounted figure stands out from the fray, with his golden helmet and red tunic silhouetted against a hillside in the upper center of the composition. To illustrate the beginning of hisown biography, Humayun’s son Akbar included this image of his father riding victoriously back to India. The scene never actually occurred in this way, since Humayun did not participate in this particular battle; his inclusion here is symbolic.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
