Abu'l-Hasan (or Abu al-Hasan) (1589 – c. 1630), from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, India, was a

Mughal painter Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums ( muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It emerged from Persian miniature pain ...

of miniatures during the reign of

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

Biography

Abu al-Hasan was the son of Aqa Reza of

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

Safavid Iran Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

, a city with an artistic tradition. Aqa Reza was established as an artist and took up employment with

(r. 1605 –1627) before the latter's accession to the throne of the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. When Abu al-Hasan began producing art, the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

, Jahangir, appreciated the skills of the boy. In 1599, Abu al-Hasan moved with Jahangir to his newly founded court in

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administra ...

. The emperor considered Abu al-Hasan to be particularly special to him and under his care. This is because although Abu al-Hasan's artwork was similar in many ways to his father's with

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

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influence, it was considered to be of a higher quality similar to that of older masters in the field. Jahangir said of Abu al-Hasan that he had no equal and for the work done on the frontispiece for his memoires, the emperor bestowed the title ''Nadir-uz-Saman'' ("Wonder of the Age") on Abu al-Hasan in 1618. Abu al-Hasan's main task was the documentation of events at the imperial court, which resulted in many portraits being completed.

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

s were the hallmark of Jahangir's rule. Not many of Abu al-Hasan's paintings survived, but those that identify him as the artist show that he also worked on a range of subjects, including some everyday scenes and political paintings that showed the emperor and

in a positive and powerful light. In addition to original works of art, Abu al-Hasan also retouched other artists' paintings (one such example is below: ''Dancing Dervishes'') Abu al-Hasan's career aligned with developments in the style of

Mughal painting Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums ( muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It emerged from Persian miniature pai ...

s. However, when Jahangir's reign came to an end, and

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

began his rule, Abu al-Hasan's career became less active until 1628 from which point on, there is no evidence of him producing art.

Works

Gallery

File:6Abu'l Hasan Squirrels in a Plane Tree, ca. 1610, India Office Library and Records, London.jpg, alt=, ''Squirrels in a Plane Tree'' (c. 1610). File:Jahangircrop.jpeg, alt=Portrait of Jahangir (detail) by Abu al-Hasan, 1617, Portrait of

(detail) by Abu al-Hasan, 1617. File:10 Abu'l Hasan Saʿdī presents a book of his poems, 1615, Walters Art Museum, Baltimor.jpg, alt=Saʿdī presents a book of his poems, 1615, Walters Art Museum, Saʿdī presents a book of his poems, 1615,

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

. File:18 Abu'l Hasan. Portrait of Jahangir, 1615-20, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York.jpg, alt=Portrait of Jahangir, 1615–20, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Portrait of Jahangir, 1615–1620,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. File:7 Abu'l Hasan, Spotted Forktail, Folio from the Shah Jahan Album ca. 1610–15 Metropolitan Museum New-York.jpg, alt=Spotted Forktail, Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, c. 1610–15, Metropolitan Museum, Spotted Forktail, Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, c. 1610–1615, Metropolitan Museum. File:8 Abu'l Hasan. Celebrations at the accession of Jahangir. Jahangirnama. St. Petersburg Album. ca. 1615-18, Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg..jpg, alt=Celebrations at the accession of Jahangir. Jahangirnama. St. Petersburg Album, c. 1615–18, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Celebrations at the accession of Jahangir. Jahangirnama. St. Petersburg Album, c. 1615–1618,

Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (IOM) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Институт восточных рукописей Российской академии наук), formerly the St. Petersburg Branch of the Instit ...

. File:Emperor Jahangir, Triumphing Over Poverty, ca1620-1625.jpg, alt=Emperor Jahangir Triumphing over Poverty, attributed to Abu'l Hasan, ca. 1620–1625. Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on page, 23.81 x 15.24 cm., ''Emperor Jahangir Triumphing over Poverty,'' attributed to Abu'l Hasan, c. 1620–1625. Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on page, 23.81 x 15.24 cm. File:Durbar scene of Jahangir.jpg, Durbar Scene of Jahangir. Painted by Abu'l Hasan, ca. 1615. Opaque water color, gold, and ink on paper, 16.9 x 12.3 cm. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., purchase F1946.28. File:Abu'l - The St. Petersburg Album- Allegorical representation of Emperor Jahangir and Shah - Google Art Project.jpg, alt=Abu'l - The St. Petersburg Album- Allegorical representation of Emperor Jahangir and Shah, Abu'l - The St. Petersburg Album - Allegorical representation of Emperor Jahangir and Shah. File:Jahangir Entertains Shah Abbas.jpg, Abu'l Hasan, ''Jahangir Entertains Shah Abbas'', c. 1620. Washington, DC: Freer and Sackler Galleries. File:Jahangir - Abu al-Hasan.jpeg, alt=The Mughal Emperor Jahangir with Radiant Gold Halo, Holding a Globe (c. 1617)The largest known Mughal portrait depicting Emperor Jahangir. Attributed to Abu'l Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman painted at Mandu, ''The Mughal Emperor Jahangir with Radiant Gold Halo, Holding a Globe'' (c. 1617). The largest known Mughal portrait depicting Emperor Jahangir. Attributed to Abu'l Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman painted at Mandu. File:2 Abu'l Hasan. Study of St. John Evangelist adapted from Durer's Crusifixion engraving of 1511. Dated 1600-1601, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford..jpg, alt=2 Abu'l Hasan. Study of St. John Evangelist adapted from Durer's Crucifixion engraving of 1511. Dated 1600–1601, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford., Abu'l Hasan. Study of St. John Evangelist adapted from Durer's Crucifixion engraving of 1511. Dated 1600 –1601, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. File:Dancing Dervishes.jpg, alt="Dancing Dervishes", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album. Originally by Aqa Mirak, retouched by Abu'l Hasan, "Dancing Dervishes", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album. Originally by

Aqa Mirak Aqa Mirak (fl. 1520 – Qazvin, 1576) was a Persian illustrator and painter. Life Aqa Mirak was a painter, purveyor and companion to the Safavid shah Tahmasp I and was well known in contemporary circles. Initially living in Tabriz, he traveled a ...

, retouched by Abu'l Hasan.

References

External links

The Emperors' album: images of Mughal India
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Abu al-Hasan
Study of Saint John the Evangelist
After Albrecht Durer, dated 1600 –1601, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
''Spotted Forktail,'' Folio from the Shah Jahan Album (''c. 1610 –1615)''
The Metropolitan Museum of Art *
Jahangir Shoots Malik 'Anbar (c.1620)
Freer Gallery of Art'' *
Emperor Jahangir Triumphing over Poverty
(c. 1620 –1625)'' Los Angeles County Museum of Art *
Darbar Scene of Jahangir
(c. 1615) Freer Gallery of Art'' *
Allegorical Representation of Emperor Jahangir and Shah 'Abbas of Persia
( c. 1618) Freer Gallery of Art'' *
The Mughal Emperor Jahangir with Radiant Gold Halo, Holding a Globe (c. 1617)
' Sotheby's Picture Library, London
''Jahangir entertains Abbas'' (c. 1620)
Freer Gallery of Art
An exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum, October 21,1987-February 14,1988
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Hasan, Abu Mughal painters 1589 births 17th-century deaths 17th-century Iranian painters 17th-century Indian painters Painters from Delhi