The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan

c. 1656–61
(Dutch, 1606–1669)
Netherlands
pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash
Sheet: 22.5 x 17.1 cm (8 7/8 x 6 3/4 in.); Secondary Support: 27.6 x 22.4 cm (10 7/8 x 8 13/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1978.38
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The Mughal ruler portrayed in this drawing carries a fly swatter in his left hand.

Description

Rembrandt’s drawing portrays Shah Jahan, the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1628-58. It is one of twenty-three drawings that Rembrandt made after Indian miniatures, which he had very likely studied in an album then in Holland. By the 18th century, the album had been dismantled, and the model for this drawing now resides at the Schloss Schönbrunn, Vienna. Rembrandt imposed his characteristic realist tendencies on a more detailed, formal, and stylized model, bringing the shah to life with especially fine pen strokes on the face and shoes mixed with evanescent brown ink washes around the figure that introduce a dynamic interplay of light, shade, and figure. Above the shah’s head, he scratched away parts of the ink and paper to create a nimbus shape that frames the profile. His meticulous technique and use of a rare and expensive Japanese paper suggest that he regarded his drawings after Mughal paintings as exceptional.
  • ?-1747
    Jonathan Richardson, Sr., London, 1665-1745 (Lugt 2184); his mount; his sale, Cock, London, 22 January-11 February 1747, lot 70 "a book of Indian Drawings, 25 in number"
    ?-1926
    Peregrine Cust, 6th Lord Brownlow, Belton House, Grantham, 1899-1978; his sale, Sotheby's, London 29 June 1926, lot 25, to Duveen
    1926-?
    with Joseph Duveen, London
    ?-1932
    Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner, Detroit, 1880-1958; his sale, Mensing, Amsterdam, 25 October 1932, lot 12
    ?-1978
    Robert von Hirsch, Frankfurt and Basel, 1883-1977; his sale, Sotheby's, London, 20 June 1978, lot 38; to Cleveland Museum of Art
    1978-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • null
    Schrader, Stephanie, Catherine Ann Glynn, Yael Rice, William W. Robinson, and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. 2018. Plate 1 80
    Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold. Die Handzeichnungen Rembrandts. New York: E. Weyhe, 1925. p. 34, no. 643
    Benesch, Otto. Rembrandt, Werk und Forschung. Wien: Gilhofer u. Ranschburg, 1934. p. 56
    Benesch, Otto, and Johannes Wilde. Rembrandt: Selected Drawings. London: Phaidon, 1947. Vol 1, p. 44, no. 229; Vol 2, plate 229
    Benesch, Otto. The Drawings of Rembrandt. [A Critical and Chronological Catalogue]. London: Phaidon Press, 1954-57. Vol 5, p. 338, no. 1193, fig. 1417
    Clark, Kenneth. Rembrandt and the Italian Renaissance. London: Murray, 1966. pp. 166-67
    Benesch, Otto, and Eva Benesch. The Drawings of Rembrandt. London: Phaidon Press, 1973. Vol 5, p. 321, no. 1193, fig. 1491
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “The Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Six Works from Von Hirsch Collection,” August 1, 1978, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1978.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (January 1979): 3–48. Reproduced: p. 14; Mentioned: p. 45, no. 102 www.jstor.org
    Johnson, Mark M. Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 14-15, 39; fig. 6
    Lunsingh Scheurleer, P., "Mogol-miniaturen door Rembrandt nagetekend." De Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis 32, no. 1 (1980): pp. 10-40. pp. 30-32, fig. 18
    Broos, B. P. J., "Rembrandts Indische Miniaturen." Spiegel Historiael 15 (April 1980): pp. 210-18. pp. 210-11, fig. 1
    Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Reproduced: p. 353, fig. 54 www.jstor.org
    Haverkamp Begemann, Egbert, and Carolyn Logan. Creative Copies: Interpretative Drawings from Michelangelo to Picasso. New York, NY: The Drawing Center, 1988. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 127-29, no. 34
    Pal, Pratapaditya. Romance of the Taj Mahal. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 195-97, fig. 208.
    Royalton-Kisch, Martin. Drawings by Rembrandt and His Circle in the British Museum. London: British Museum Press, 1992. p. 143
    Blankert, Albert. Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1997. under no. 38, fig. 93a
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: cat. no. 68, p. 9, pp.168-169, p. 293; Reproduced: p. 169
    Filipczak, Zirka Z. “Rembrandt and the Body Language of Mughal Miniatures.” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (NKJ) / Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art, vol. 58, 2007, pp. 162–187. p. 168, fig. 5; p. 169; p. 170 24707933.
    Robinson, William W. Rembrandt's "Indian Drawings" and His Later Work. New York: Drawing Institute, The Morgan Library & Museum, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 14-15, fig. 4
    Green, Dominic. "The Twain Did Meet." Art & Antiques, (April 2018): 88-93. Reproduced: p. 92 (right)
    Robinson, William W. "A Book of Indian Drawings, by Rembrandt, 25 in Number." In Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. Stephanie Schrader, ed., 43-60. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018. pp. 52-53Reproduced: P. 53, fig.38
    Schrader, Stephanie, ed. Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018. Reproduced: p. 80, pl.1, and cover
  • Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (March 13-June 24, 2018).
    Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (February 13-June 24, 2018) p. 80.
    Rembrandt Paintings in America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 19-May 28, 2012).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    Romance of the Taj Mahal. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (December 17-March 11, 1989); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (April 28-June 24, 1990); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (August 23-November 25, 1990).
    The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).
    Seventeenth Century Netherlandish Graphics. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 27-August 1, 1982).
    Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980).
    Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979).
    Italian Drawings with von Hirsh Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 15-December 4, 1978).
    Rembrandt-Ausstellung zu Ehren Ihrer Majestät Königin Wilhelmine der Niederlande, anlässlich des Jubiläums ihrer fünfzigjährigen Regierungszeit. Katz Galerie, Basel (July 24–September 30, 1948), no. 29.
  • {{cite web|title=Shah Jahan|url=false|author=Rembrandt van Rijn|year=c. 1656–61|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.38