A Visit to a Temple

Maker(s)
Artist: Attributed to Faqirullah Khan (active 1720-1770)
Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Muhammad Shah, ca. 1740
Movement
Mughal Court
School
Mughal School
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 22 x 13.3 cm (8 11/16 x 5 1/4 in)
Geography
India, Delhi
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1924.9
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Painting

Keywords
India, morning, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), shrine
Provenance

To 1924
Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Boston to 1924 [1]

From 1924
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Boston in 1924 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy 1877-1947

Label

As the Mughal empire began to crumble in the early eighteenth century, paintings with escapist themes rather than historical subjects became more popular in the royal court. Many artists depicted idealized beauties engaged in introspective activities, such as this woman entering a Hindu shrine at dawn. The painting perhaps refers to a melody because in the previous century the subject of a woman worshiping a lingam, an aniconic form of the great deity Shiva, became associated with the Indian classical composition known as Bhairavi Ragini.

Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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