This manuscript painting of 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:A Kneeling Youth (1635), by an artist working in the style of Reza-I ‘Abbasi, is one of our favourite lots in the upcoming 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:𝐆Arts of the Islamic World & India sale at Sotheby’s London.

It is of great interest not simply due to its great beauty but also because of its subject: a young, western man. The seventeenth century was a period of great cultural exchange and relative tolerance between European traders and their Mughal hosts; this young man, likely a Portuguese merchant, is depicted drinking, something strictly forbidden in Islamic law. Yet, this type of depiction was not unique; the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC has in its collection the manuscript page . Perhaps surprisingly, one of the kings in this p🐼ainting is instantly recognisable as James I.

The Old Master Paintings Department frequently offers we♈stern portraits from this period. That said, the present lot provides us with a wonderful counterpoint to more familiar depictions by European painters. A Kneeling Youth is viewed through the prism of Mughal visual conventions; the portrait’s setting is not governed by European rules of perspective, rather it is marked by a floral and arboreal pattern t𝓰hat yields🐟 to a figure and dress immediately recognisable as western. It is cultural cross-pollination made manifest on a single page.

The artwork will be offered on 26th October 202🌱2 with an estimate of £20,000 - £25,000.