Saturday, December 24, 2016

Image: Bhishma and Yudhishthira



Bhishma and Yudhishthira
North India, 1598

From the Museum site: This illustration comes from a dispersed manuscript of the Razmnama, a Persian translation of the great Hindu Mahabharata epic made during Akbar’s reign. It depicts Bhishma seated on a carpet in a landscape. Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira in the nature of the soul, or the recognition of the jivatman and the dharmatman. The work was probably commissioned by Akbar’s leading minister, Abd ur-Rahim Khankhanan, and executed by artists trained in the imperial studio.

Detail: