A Sufi Saint Lot n° 27

Specifications: Water Color Painting On Paper Artist: Kailash Raj 8.5 inch x 11.5 inch A work by a contemporary artist, rendered in characteristic Mughal style of Jahangir’s period when portraiture, that is, the true representation of some likeness, was a miniature’s core concern, this painting represents a Sufi saint in his traditional ensemble prescribed for his rank in the Sufi hierarchy. Akbar was the innovator of the painting style that the tradition designated as Mughal style. His father Humayun also patronised the art of painting but his court art pursued by and large the Persian idiom. Akbar not only had at his court a large atelier with about a hundred painters, most of them of Indian origin, but also completely Indianized its style. However, it was Jahangir who encouraged personal portraits and the portrayed figures also included divines, the Sufi saints in special. He not only got them painted but also often visited their Khankahs – seats or monasteries. Among Mughals, however, Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shahjahan, was the greatest admirers of Sufism and often spent his days with Sufi saints. He got many of them painted.   This painting depicts a Sufi Saint seated on a beautiful Persian carpet woven with intricate floral design laid under a willow tree close to a rivulet flowing in the midst of delightfully modeled rocks. Though there enshrines on his face a serene calmness and absolute contentment, in his eyes floats some concern, perhaps something related to some disciple’s problem. He has black moustaches with a long white bear. The ambience around is typically Persian – a pale yellow sky with clouds of a deeper tint hovering around. The actual painting is contained within a border consisting of a vine running all across. Its leaves have been so designed that they also look like queuing birds. He is seated with his legs turned back. He is wearing an off-white Jama woven with small floral design. Ov