Akbar, the teenage emperor of northern India, was so enthralled by the epic he commissioned a group of Persian and Hindu artists to illustrate it and organise it into 14 enormous volumes, with approximately 1400 paintings.
The illustrations are painted on cotton and are huge, nearly one metre high. This massive artistic project took more than 100 artists, gilders, book binders and calligraphers 15 years to complete.
Shows Shahrashob Leads Hamza to Prison and Tul Mast Recognises the Amir from His Room in the Caravanserai of Baba Junayd, c.1557-1572.
Illustration from the Hamzanama Mughal c.1557-1572. © MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art.
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