Royal Woman Holding a Flower

c. 1670s–80s

Royal Woman Holding a Flower, c. 1670s–80s. Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner. Gum tempera and gold on paper; miniature: 19.7 x 10 cm (7 3/4 x 3 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.194 Following the model of formal imperial Mughal court portraiture, the artist has lavished care on shading the face of a royal woman and the distinctive qualities of her luxurious textiles. Details have been exquisitely rendered, including the fringe of her pink shawl with its lotus vine border and the sprigs of flowers tucked in her hair. The flowering plants on the ground echo the lush vegetation of the Qur'anic paradise.