Ustad Mansur
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Ustad Mansur (flourished 1590-1624) was a seventeenth-century Mughal
painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
and court artist. He grew up during the reign of
Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...
(r. 1605 - 1627) during which period he excelled at depicting plants and animals. He was the earliest artist to depict the
dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. ...
in colour, apart from being the first to illustrate the Siberian crane. Towards the end of
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
's reign, he gained the title of ''ustad'' (=master) and during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir his masterpieces earned him the title of ''Nãdir-al-’Asr'' ("Unequalled of the age"). Although largely known for his natural history illustrations, he also portrayed people in various manuscript illustrations.


Life and work

The year of Mansur's birth is unknown. His name was suffixed in some early miniatures as ''Naqqash'', which can refer to an artist, painter, or carver, indicating that he came from a family that was in an artistic profession. A single
miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or proble ...
showing 'Babur meeting his sister' (folio 8, National Museum) is attributed to Mansur but he otherwise finds no mention in Babur's memoirs (''
Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great- ...
'').Verma (1999):43 He was associated with other artists of the period including
Basawan Basāwan, or Basāvan (flourished 1580–1600), was an Indian miniature painter in the Mughal style. He was known by his contemporaries as a skilled colorist and keen observer of human nature, and for his use of portraiture in the illustrations ...
, Miskina and Nanha. During Akbar's reign he appears to have been involved only as a colourist in the plates for the Book of Akbar ('' Akbarnama'') and his name is not mentioned by Abu'l-Fazl among the list of artists. Akbar followed the principle that all artwork should include the name of the artist on the margin. The British Museum's copy of the ''Akbarnama'' (1604) includes some folios (35,110a,110b and 112a) where his name is prefixed with "ustad" (=master), indicating his rise to excellence. Early works included parts of portraits and other scenes. The earliest works were made as part of the ''Baburnama'' (1590–95) and most of these are as an assistant or a colourist. His Veena-player (c. 1595) and coronation portrait of
Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...
(c. 1605, made along with the artist Manohar) are early works. In 1612, Jehangir received a turkey cock from Goa and this was illustrated by Mansur. In 1619, Jehangir received a Barbary falcon as a gift from Shah Abbas of Persia; Jehangir found it rare and beautifully patterned and when it died, he ordered that a likeness be made of the bird. In 1620, Jehangir visited Kashmir and spotted a
brown dipper The brown dipper (''Cinclus pallasii''), also known as Pallas's dipper, Asian dipper or the Asiatic dipper, is an aquatic songbird found in the mountains of the east Palearctic. It is a thrush-like bird with a cocked tail. Its plumage is chocolat ...
which he described in his memoirs ('' Tuzk-e-Jahangiri'') translated as: "... In this stream I saw a bird like a ''saj''. It dives and remains for a long time underneath and then comes up from a different place. I ordered them to catch and bring two or three of these birds, that I might ascertain whether they were waterfowl and were web-footed, or had open feet like land birds. They caught two... One died immediately and the other lived for a day. Its feet were not webbed like a duck's. I ordered Nadirul-asr Ustad Mansur to draw its likeness." Mansur painted at least one hundred flowers from the Kashmir valley during this period.Verma (1999):25 A red tulip from Kashmir is a better-known painting. The identity of the tulip is however debated with competing suggestions that include '' Tulipa lanata'', '' T. montana'' and '' T. lehmanniana''. In 1621, Jehangir was gifted a zebra and this was perhaps the subject of the last miniature painting made by Mansur. It is suggested that his career ended with the reign of Jehangir in 1627. Several other signed works, such as one of the Siberian crane (now no longer a winter migrant to India) and the other of a
Bengal florican The Bengal florican (''Houbaropsis bengalensis''), also called the Bengal bustard, is a bustard species native to the Indian subcontinent, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List because fewer than 1,00 ...
are in the Indian Museum, Kolkata. Some other works are in the National Museum, Delhi, the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, Jaipur and the Chhatrapati Sivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai. Not all of Mansur's birds were based on reality. He also created fantasy birds and many of the compositions such as the flowers and insects in the background are juxtapositions created for effect. It appears that these imaginary birds were made in the style of his senior peers, Miskina and Ikhlas, and were made only early in his career as an artist. In terms of style, Mansur's illustrations focus on detail with a single bird dominating the composition. The birds or animals are in a standing posture or in a feeding stance. He often used plants and insects in the background and the floral borders, characteristic of Mughal works may help in identifying his works. The most significant paintings, in terms of zoology, are those of the Siberian crane and the
dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. ...
. The Siberian crane painting was made well before it was formally described and given a binomial name by
Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia between 1767 and 1810. Life and work Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, the son of Professor of Surgery ...
in 1773. The painting of the dodo is among the rare few that were depicted in colour and is a very important source for zoologists. It is thought that the dodo was brought through Surat to Jehangir's court via Portuguese-controlled Goa and the painting of it was discovered in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg and although unsigned has been thought to be the work of Mansur or a close contemporary.Rangarajan, M. (2001) India's Wildlife History. Permanent Black. pp. 14,19. Two dodos were described by the English traveller Peter Mundy at Surat and it is thought that the painting is based on one of them. Mundy was in the region between 1628 and 1633. The Siberian crane painted on paper is extremely detailed showing the wrinkles on the bare skin, the legs and a small feather stuck to the claw. Abanindranath Tagore was taken by E. B. Havell, principal of the art school at Calcutta and shown this painting. On examining the detail through a lens, he was inspired to move away from oil on canvas to gouache on paper. Ustad Mansur was not the only artist in the Mughal court to illustrate flora and fauna. Other artists included Abu'l Hasan, Farrukh Beg, Govardhan, Inayat, Manohar, Muhammad Nadir, Murad and Pidarath. Jehangir considered Mansur and Abu'l Hasan to be exceptional artists. Abu'l Hasan was given the titled of ''Nadir uz Zaman''. Several 17th-19th century artists have come to both imitate and copy his works (sometimes with his signature), especially for export to Europe. It is therefore not easy to assess a true work by Ustad Mansur, which can in case of the chameleon (left) be done by taking in account the quality of the work. The painting is highly detailed and is presumed to be an Indian chameleon on account of the highly detailed view of the feet of the animal showing each foot exhibiting "fused digits in opposed groups", a lighter band by the edge of the mouth, and a line of white scales on the underside of the belly. Mansur was also a capable portrait artist. His painting of the musician
Naubat Khan Naubat Khan (also known as Ali Khan Karori) was an Indian classical music composer, musician and instrumentalist who was made a Mansabdar by Mughal Emperor Akbar. He is known today for his skills with the ''rudra veena'' or ''bīn'', which he is sh ...
who worked in the courts of Akbar and later Jahangir is an example. A
crater Crater may refer to: Landforms * Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet * Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surf ...
on the planet Mercury is named in honour of Mansur.


Notes


References

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External links


The Emperors' album: images of Mughal India
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (downloadable), which contains material on Ustad Mansur (nos. 41,44,45,47) * Metropolitan Museum Collections
NilgaiGreat HornbillVultures
* Victoria and Albert Museum
Cheer PheasantZebraTurkeySketch of two cranes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansur, Ustad Mughal painters Animal artists Court painters 17th-century Indian painters Indian male painters