The Young Emperor Akbar Arrests the Insolent Shah Abu’l-Maali, Page from a Manuscript of the Akbarnama

Basawan · Mughal dynasty (1526-1857), c. 1590-1595

Medium

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Original size

Image: 32 × 19.3 cm (12 5/8 × 7 9/16 in.); Outermost border: 33 × 19.6 cm (13 × 7 11/16 in.); Page: 34.4 × 20 cm (13 1/2 × 7 7/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Mannerism

This dramatic scene from the Akbarnama — the official chronicle of Emperor Akbar's reign — captures a moment of imperial authority with the compositional energy and jewel-like color that define Mughal manuscript painting at its peak. Basawan was among the most celebrated artists in Akbar's imperial atelier, renowned for his psychological depth and his synthesis of Persian miniature traditions with naturalistic influences absorbed from European prints circulating at the Mughal court. His figures have weight and presence unusual for the period — faces that suggest individual character rather than courtly type. The dense layering of opaque watercolor, heightened with gold, produces a surface that seems almost luminous, every detail of textile and architecture rendered with meticulous precision. The Akbarnama pages were produced as a collaborative project across Akbar's workshop, with Basawan frequently cited in the colophons as a leading hand — a testament to the esteem in which he was held among his contemporaries. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates the original's intensity of color and intricacy of composition into a durable medium suited to display, preserving the dynamism and visual richness that have made this page one of the Art Institute of Chicago's most admired works from the Mughal period.