The game of wolf-running in Tabriz, from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar)

c. 1595–1600

Banavari 1

(Indian, active 1550s-1590s)

Culture

Medium

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Measurements

Page: 35.2 x 23.8 cm (13 7/8 x 9 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Alma Kroeger Fund 2003.38

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

During extreme activities, turbans could come unwound and fall off.

Description

After four years of traveling in exile, fleeing Afghan forces, Humayun reached Tabriz, the glittering capital of the Safavid dynasty in northwestern Iran, here imaginatively rendered by the Indian artist. There the second Mughal emperor enjoyed warm hospitality extended by the shah of Iran, who called for a game of wolf-running for which the city was famous. Artists painting during the time of Akbar, late in his reign when historical subjects dominated, speculated as to how the game was played, based on eyewitness accounts. They gave the figures lively emotive expressions and gestures, and the dense crowding successfully conveys the pandemonium of the scene.