Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Harem Night-Bathing Scene (recto)

Creator Name

--

Cultural Context

Mughal India, court of Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58)

Date

c. 1653

About the work

Cleveland Museum of Art Object Description

At least two scenes of women bathing under the moonlight were included in the Late Shah Jahan Album. In this painting eight women of the palace have removed their outer garments and jewelry down to their white petticoats to swim and dally in a luxurious marble pool. One male figure, who may be a eunuch guard or an imagined voyeur, looks on unnoticed, pointing to his mouth in a gesture of astonishment, perhaps at the beauty of the scene. He walks toward a small enclosure that matches descriptions of ceremonial ablution rooms set up in the women's quarters. The fully dressed women in the top and bottom border examine strings of pearls and other jewelry pieces while the attendants on ...

Work details

"--" = no data available
Curationist Logo= Curationist added metadata(Learn more)

Title

Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Harem Night-Bathing Scene (recto)

Creator

--

Worktype

Painting

Cultural Context

Mughal India, court of Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58)

Material

Gum tempera, gold, and ink on paper

Dimensions

Overall: 37.8 x 27.3 cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/4 in.);
height: 0.378metre;
width: 0.273metre

Technique

--

Language

--

Date

c. 1653

Provenance

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1987–; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alton W. Whitehouse

Style Period

--

Rights

Curationist Logo
CC0
CC0

Inscription

--

Location

--

Subject

--

Topic

--

All Works in Curationist’s archives can be reproduced and used freely. How to attribute this Work:

Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Harem Night-Bathing Scene (recto), c. 1653, Cleveland Museum of Art. CC0.

Help us to improve this content!

Let our archivists know if you have something to add.

Save this work.

Start an account to add this work to your personal curated collection.

masonry card

Stay up to date with our projects, features and events!

Sign up to receive our newsletters

Curationist connects people to cultural knowledge from all over the world.

Support Us