Description
Chanda is the heroine of a Sufi romance. The Sufis are a mystical branch of Islam whose followers cultivate love for the divine. This painting is from a dispersed manuscript of the Chandayana painted in a style that was an important source for Mughal painting. Its artists integrated Persian colors and delicate vine motifs with figures presented in profile, within flat, compartmentalized registers, which are horizontal divisions of space. The drama of their interactions is conveyed by means of animated gestures.
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1981–)
A traveler persuades Lorik to return home (top); Chanda objects (bottom), from a Chandayana (Story of Chanda)
c. 1540
Accession Number
1981.55
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Image: 19.7 x 14 cm (7 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.); Overall: 25.5 x 20 cm (10 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of D. J. R. Ushikubo, The John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, and Bequest of James Parmelee by exchange