San Diego Museum of Art - A Sudden Flight is Reported: Umar and Landhaur Converse outside Hamza's tent

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A Sudden Flight is Reported: Umar and Landhaur Converse outside Hamza's tent

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A Sudden Flight is Reported: Umar and Landhaur Converse outside Hamza's tent

Creation date: 1562-1577

Creation place: India

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton cloth and paper

Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection

Accession Number: 1990.274

State/Province: Delhi

Dimensions: 26 15/16 in. x 20 15/16 in. (68.4 cm x 53.2 cm)

Provenance

Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, New York ( - October 7, 1963)

Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California (October 7, 1963 - August 27, 1990)

San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California (August 27, 1990 - )

Label Copy

The Great Mughals: Power and Patronage (2002-3)
Akbar (The Great), 1542-1605

AMIR SAHIB QARAN FLEES FROM HIS ENEMIES; LANDHAUR IS LED BEFORE QARAN [DASTAN-I AMIR HAMZA (HAMZANAMA)]
Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton cloth and paper, 1558–1573
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection
1990:274

MANUSCRIPT
Very early in his reign, when he was perhaps as young as fifteen, Akbar set his fledgling painting academy the enormous task of producing a manuscript of the Hamzanama. It was a project over 1,400 similarly sized folios, destined for at least ten volumes. Several factors suggest the manuscript was used in story telling performances: it is unusually large; it is painted on sturdy cotton rather than the usual paper; the text on paper is pasted to the back; and it was originally unbound. Akbar was criticized by his elders for excessive interest in the “fabulous,” but his selection of stories for illustration often appealed to more than just the imagination. Hamza, by his bravery and grand spirit more than once turns an implacable enemy of Islam into a willing supporter.

SUBJECT
The Hamzanama (Adventures of Hamza) was a rambling popular tale from the Persian oral tradition that recounted the adventures of Amir Hamza, the paternal uncle of Muhammad, as he traveled spreading the word of Islam. In this scene, the giant Moor Landhaur, (or possibly it is Prince Landhaur’s well dressed groom) arrives from the left and is greeted by Umar, Hamza’a loyal comrade. Hamza learns of the action shown in the background, which is tipped up for better viewing: Qaran flees his pursuers at full gallop.

STYLE
The action-filled page bristles with color, gestures, and rich patterns from the Persian tradition in the tent canopy, the carpet, and the flaming orange leaves of the tree. Under Akbar’s patronage, the far more static Persian style is adapted to high-energy storytelling: clarity and focus are sacrificed to visual and narrative adventure. Young and vigorous himself, Akbar loved action tales, and for one who did not read, a picture such as this offered full access to the story.

March 2005
Origins of Mughal Painting

One of the initial and most monumental productions of Akbar's reign, the Adventures of Hamza is a multi-volume series, which originally included over 1,400 paintings, all of which measure over two feet high. In keeping with Akbar's taste for action and adventure, this compilation of stories derived from Persian oral tradition tells of the hero Hamza, who is loosely based on the uncle of the prophet Muhammad. Hamza and his confreres encounter giants and fairies, become involved with dangerous espionage missions, contend with wily handmaidens of princesses, and have one wildly bloodcurdling adventure after another.

This series was directed by Mir Sayyid Ali (see Section I), the famous Persian court painter, but executed primarily by local Indian artists selected by Akbar to create pictures that blend Persian and Indian styles. Some of the original sense of drama is still discernible in this page, inspite of the unfortunate overpainting of the faces and areas of white that had chipped of when the page was folded. All of the faces of the figures and horses had been expunged sometime after the Mughal imperial library was sacked in 1739, and a more recent owner had it restored.

October 2005
Domains of Wonder

The ambitious emperor Akbar delighted in fantastic stories filled with action and adventure. Early in his reign he commissioned the largest illustrated book project ever undertaken by the Mughal atelier: the Hamzanama (“Adventures of Hamza”). Originally consisting of fourteen volumes, each with about one hundred illustrations, all measuring more than two feet in height, the Hamzanama was the pride of the imperial Mughal library until its dispersal in the 18th century.

Once effaced by an owner who disapproved of figural imagery, the faces of these horses and figures were repainted at a later date.

Sonya Quintanilla (2014) Quebec

A sudden flight is reported: Umar and Landhaur converse outside Hamza's tent
From a Hamzanama («The Adventures of Hamza»)
India, 1558–73
Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton cloth and paper. 68.4 x 53.2 cm
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.274

The ambitious emperor Akbar delighted in fantastic stories filled with action and adventure. Early in his reign he commissioned the largest illustrated book project ever undertaken by the Mughal atelier, from which this page has come. Originally consisting of fourteen volumes, each with about one hundred illustrations, all measuring more than two feet in height, the Hamzanama was the pride of the imperial Mughal library for more than one hundred and fifty years.

In keeping with Akbar's taste for action and adventure, this compilation of stories derived from Persian oral tradition tells of the hero Hamza, who is loosely based on the uncle of the prophet Muhammad. Hamza and his confreres encounter giants and fairies, become involved with dangerous espionage missions, contend with wily handmaidens of princesses, and have one wildly bloodcurdling adventure after another.

This series was directed by Mir Sayyid Ali, the celebrated master painter of the Persian court, but it was executed primarily by local Indian artists selected by Akbar to create pictures that blend Persian and Indian styles. Some of the original sense of drama is still discernible in this page, in spite of the unfortunate repainting of the faces and areas of white that had chipped of when the page was folded. All of the faces of the figures and horses had been expunged sometime after the Mughal imperial library was sacked and its contents either destroyed or dispersed in 1739, and a more recent owner had it restored.

Last Updated: 2/15/2022

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Islamic Art from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibitions Service , 10/1/1966 - 10/19/1969

Islamic Art Across the World Indiana University Art Museum , 6/18/1970 - 10/1/1970

The Mughal and Deccani Schools: Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd The Portland Art Association , 12/2/1973 - 3/7/1976

The Great Mughals: Power and Patronage , 3/13/2003 - 9/1/2003

Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting San Diego Museum of Art , 10/22/2005 - 1/27/2008

Into India: South Asian Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Art , 2/28/2012 - 5/27/2012

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. The Mughal and Deccani Schools Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oregon, 1973
Page Number: 24, 27, Figure Number: 11

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. The Mughal and Deccani Schools Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oregon, 1973
Page Number: 34

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. The Mughal and Deccani Schools Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oregon, 1973
Page Number: 67

Richard Ettinghausen. Islamic Art from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd Smithsonian Institution. Washington, District of Columbia, 1966
Page Number: 2

Richard Ettinghausen. Islamic Art from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd Smithsonian Institution. Washington, District of Columbia, 1966
Page Number: no. 65, Figure Number: 65

Theodore Robert Bowie. Islamic Art from Across the World Indiana University Art Museum. Bloomington, Indiana, 1970
Page Number: 37, no. 122

John Seyller. The Adventures of Hamza: Smithsonian Institution. Washington, District of Columbia, 2002
Page Number: 259 no. R17, Figure Number: 17

Brijinder Nath Goswamy and Dr. Caron Smith. Domains of Wonder: San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 2005
Page Number: 116, 117, Figure Number: 42

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla and Patrick Coleman. Visiones de la India Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2012
Page Number: 128, 276-7, Figure Number: cat. 51, p. 129

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla and Patrick Coleman. Visiones de la India (Mexico) Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia. Mexico , 2013
Page Number: 84, Figure Number: cat. 50, p. 85

Marks

Inscription, On reverse:

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