Jahangir and Prince Khurram entertained by Nur Jahan
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1640-50
label: Period
content: Mughal dynasty, Reign of Jahangir
notes: label: Court
content: Mughal Court
label: School/Tradition
content: Mughal school
label: Label
content: The powerful empress Nur Jahan (1577-1645) was an ardent patron of gardens. This intimate composition depicts the empress relaxing with her husband, Jahangir, and Prince Khurram, the future emperor Shah Jahan, in what is almost certainly the Ram Bagh garden. Nur Jahan remodeled this Agra garden in 1621, shortly before the painting was created.
label: Label
content: The Ram Bagh epitomizes the imperial Mughal (1526-1858) garden aesthetic that thoroughly integrated nature and architecture. Carpets like fields of flowers, wall paintings of cypresses, open porches with blossom-adorned columns, and water channels that ran from exterior to interior contributed to a fluid, delightful whole. Delicately scented breezes and burbling fountains further set the stage for royal pastimes.
label: Provenance
content: Before 1890
label: Provenance
content: Ownership information unknown
label: Provenance
content: By 1890-1907
label: Provenance
content: Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), method of acquisition unknown [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1907-1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See “Catalogue of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts, Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by H. B. Hanna” [book], (London: Dowdeswell and Dowdeswells, 1890).
label: Provenance
content: Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) was an officer in the British military and a collector of Indian paintings. Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, Hanna’s family later moved to London, where he was baptized in 1851. Beginning in 1857, Hanna served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1889. After his retirement, he resided in London and Petersfield with his younger sisters. According to Hanna, he began collecting Indian paintings around the time of the Indian Rebellion (1857-1859). See letter from Henry Bathurst Hanna to Charles Lang Freer, dated April 10, 1908 [sic, 1907], p. 3, Box 17, Folder No. 10, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Charles Lang Freer art voucher no. 24, “For a collection of Indo-Persian pictures and manuscripts” from H. B. Hanna of Heathmere, Petersfield, Hants. [Hampshire], England, from October 1907, Box 114, Folder No. 12, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., copy in object file.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Provenance
content: Research updated April 19, 2024
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Female Imagery in Indian Painting (February 9 to August 5, 1996)
label: Exhibition History
content: South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court (September 25, 1981 to 30 March 1982)
label: Exhibition History
content: Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting, 1947 (April 23 to September 30, 1947)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting (December 20, 1944 to April 23, 1947)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: North India
topic: label: Topic
content: dragon
label: Topic
content: phoenix
label: Topic
content: deer
label: Topic
content: eating
label: Topic
content: Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858)
label: Topic
content: Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627)
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: prince
label: Topic
content: emperor
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 01: Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1907.258
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 25.2 x 14.2 cm (9 15/16 x 5 9/16 in)