Johnson 14,5

A Christian priest kneeling at his prayers.

Mughal, c.1650.

Richard Johnson Collection. Purchased 1807.

Inscribed on the book in Persian: ‘mas‘ud sannah 108’ (Masud, year 10[0]8/AD1599-1600); on reverse: ‘tasvir-i farang’ (picture of a foreigner).

Tinted drawing with gold, on cotton; on an album leaf with border of marbled paper and margin decorated with gold arabesques; floral decoration in gouache added to the picture when mounted on the album page, probably in the mid-18th century.

236 by 146 mm; page 362 by 234 mm.

Reverse: a miniature of a woman and a holy man.

The priest, facing half left, is holding out his hands from which a rosary dangles; a book lies open before him and his head of straggly hair is uncovered. Behind is a niche with panels and two pictures of European travellers with their dogs.

Note: This picture appears to have been copied from a European print, perhaps taken to Mughal India by Jesuits. The inscription of attribution to Masud is not reliable. Similar inscriptions in the same hand are found on J.22, 12, 15, and 16, the first of these being eighteenth century.