Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad
"The Holi Festival", Mughal School 1734-1735. This miniature, the work of the famous painter Mir Kalan, is considered the best of his known works.
"Discourse with a hermit" Mughal school, second quarter of the 17th Century.The subject of this miniature is associated with those sectarian movements, common in medieval India, which evolved in the 17th century, into reformatory religious movements.
"Triumphal procession", Decani school, Mid 17th century.Triumphal procession have been a favorite subject in Golconda painting.
"Shah Jahan's Darbar" Mughal school mid 17th century. The event depicted is the great darbar- one of the most colorful and majestic ceremonies of the Mughal Court.
"Bathing pool", Mughal school, late 16th or early 17th century. The miniature presents a typical picture of life in the harem, a subject frequently treated by the painters of the court.
"Merchants hoist Yusuf out of the well" Muhammad Nadir Samarkand. The Bible story of Yusuf(Joseph) the Beautiful was a theme treated by many oriental poets who are attracted by his life full of dramatic events.
"Falcon", Mughal school, first quarter of the 17th century. A srtiking feature of this portrayal of a falcon, done by a court painter.
"Jahangir's Darbar with a falcon", Mughal school,about 1605. This multifigure portrait shows Padishah Jahangir with his 3 sons.
"Elders in the hills", Farrukh Beg, Deccani school, end of the 16th or early of the 17th century. Here we have, apparently, a scene relating to the life of a Moslem saint.
"Woman wearing sari", Mughal school, first quarter of the 17th century. The image of a woman has been an important element in Indian representative art.
"The Divali Festival", Mughal school, first third of the 18th century. During the first of the 18th century the miniature painting began to loose its veracity of representation.
"Maiden killing a snake", Deccani school, 17th century. This miniature is typical for the 17th century Bijapur painting.
"The birth of Salim", Mughal school, late 16th century. This miniature
is an excellent example of late 16th century Mughal painting. It depicts
an event which occured in 1569, when, near the village of Sikri, a son,
Salim, ;later Emperor Jahangir, was born to Padishah Akbar.
"Noble equestrian and man with a book", Mughal school, 1600. The key figure in the composition is the young man in the foreground holding a half-open book in a handsome binding.
"Abdul Hasan Tana Shah", Deccani school, late 17th century. The sultan of Golconda, last of the Kutb-Shah dynasty to rule the state, was nicknamed "Tana-Shah" or "King of the good taste".
"Shivaji", Deccani school, late 17th century. Shivaji(1627-1680) was a ruler bent on unifying Maharashtra under his own rule, who led the struggle of the Marathas against the Mughals. Shivaji was a gifted military leader and diplomat, noted for his courage.
The manuscripts and rare books department of the Saltykov-Shchedrin Public Library of Leningrad.