Jai Singh III of Jaipur (r. 1818–1835) Riding

Discussion

FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

In contrast to imperial Mughal painting and Western portraiture, native or Rajput Indian portraits are simpler and more monumental in design, standing essentially as symbols of general ideas. Here the Rajput ruler sits unaffected by the gallop of his mount, with the trappings of a warrior and the devotional marks of a follower of the Hindu god Vishnu on his forehead. He is depicted as an ideal warrior king, pious, in full control, gazing ahead abstractly as though seeing an immutable truth.

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