Miniature pasted on an album leaf. ‘Portrait of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur’
This impressive three-quarter-profile portrait of Ibrahim Adil Shah at about 19 years of age is a unique masterpiece in every way. Portraiture was only in its infancy in Mughal India at this point, and such a monumental depiction from the Deccan must undoubtedly be attributed to the direct influence of printed European models.
Ibrahim (1579-1626) ascended the throne as a boy, but did not begin to rule until around 1590. He was a great patron of all the fine arts in Bijapur, and the inscription on the splendid turban extols the young man to the heavens, comparing him to the patriarch Abraham and to King Solomon.
Ibrahim (1579-1626) ascended the throne as a boy, but did not begin to rule until around 1590. He was a great patron of all the fine arts in Bijapur, and the inscription on the splendid turban extols the young man to the heavens, comparing him to the patriarch Abraham and to King Solomon.