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{{Short description|Miniature from the Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah Album in the Chester Beatty Library collection}} {{Short description|17th-century Indian painting}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
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== Description == == Description ==
The principal subject is a woman, who has the characteristic features of a ], with ash-colored skin and top-knotted hair. She is wearing a red '']'', with a golden '']'' and gold jewelry.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-rfrQEACAAJ |title=The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100-1900 |date=2014 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-670-08657-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |author-link=B. N. Goswamy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TgxEQAAQBAJ&dq=Yogini+with+a+Mynah+Bird&pg=PT315 |title=Ruminations: 101 & more short essays on the spirit of Indian art |date= 30 October 2024|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-6790-887-7 |language=en}}</ref> A ] bird is perched upon her right hand.<ref name=":1" /> The principal subject is a woman, who has the characteristic features of a ], with ash-coloured skin and top-knotted hair. She is wearing a red '']'', with a golden '']'' and gold jewellery.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-rfrQEACAAJ |title=The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100–1900 |date=2014 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-670-08657-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |author-link=B. N. Goswamy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TgxEQAAQBAJ&dq=Yogini+with+a+Mynah+Bird&pg=PT315 |title=Ruminations: 101 & more short essays on the spirit of Indian art |date= 30 October 2024|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-6790-887-7 |language=en}}</ref> A ] bird is perched upon her right hand.<ref name=":1" />


On either side of the woman are lotus and peony plants, the design of which was likely copied from Chinese porcelain or textiles.<ref name=":0" /> In the background is a golden sky, beneath which are rocks characteristic of the Deccan, and a hill, atop which is a palace. The painting is surrounded by poetic texts in Persian, on all four sides.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Brainerd |first1=Madeleine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xzh12b |title=Mocking Bird Technologies: The Poetics of Parroting, Mimicry, and Other Starling Tropes |last2=Kitao |first2=Kaori |date=2018 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=978-0-8232-7848-0 |chapter=Yogini and Mynah Bird: On the Poetics and Politics of Transspecies Meditation|jstor=j.ctt1xzh12b }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dundoo |first=Sangeetha Devi |date=14 April 2021 |title=Navina Najat Haidar, Kathleen James-Chakraborty and Abeer Gupta to discuss the intersection of art and rock formations of Hyderabad and Deccan |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/an-online-session-to-decode-deccan-rock-formations-in-medieval-art/article34316674.ece |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Harle |first=J. C. |title=The Art and Architecture of The Indian Subcontinent |pages=400}}</ref> On either side of the woman are lotus and peony plants, the design of which was likely copied from Chinese porcelain or textiles.<ref name=":0" /> In the background is a golden sky, beneath which are rocks characteristic of the Deccan, and a hill, atop which is a palace. The painting is surrounded by poetic texts in Persian, on all four sides.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Brainerd |first1=Madeleine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xzh12b |title=Mocking Bird Technologies: The Poetics of Parroting, Mimicry, and Other Starling Tropes |last2=Kitao |first2=Kaori |date=2018 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=978-0-8232-7848-0 |chapter=Yogini and Mynah Bird: On the Poetics and Politics of Transspecies Meditation|jstor=j.ctt1xzh12b }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dundoo |first=Sangeetha Devi |date=14 April 2021 |title=Navina Najat Haidar, Kathleen James-Chakraborty and Abeer Gupta to discuss the intersection of art and rock formations of Hyderabad and Deccan |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/an-online-session-to-decode-deccan-rock-formations-in-medieval-art/article34316674.ece |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Harle |first=J. C. |title=The Art and Architecture of The Indian Subcontinent |pages=400}}</ref>
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The woman's appearance gives rise to conflicting interpretations. Her top-knotted hair and ash-besmeared skin identify her as a yogini. The elongated shape of her body also points toward her status as an ascetic, as her leanness may be due to fasting.<ref name=":1" /> The woman's appearance gives rise to conflicting interpretations. Her top-knotted hair and ash-besmeared skin identify her as a yogini. The elongated shape of her body also points toward her status as an ascetic, as her leanness may be due to fasting.<ref name=":1" />


However, her attire consisting of the '']'', golden '']'', and lavish gold jewelry suggest that she belongs to the aristocracy. In South Asian literature, myna birds are associated with noble ladies, who keep them as pets. The palace in the background gives rise to the interpretation that she has left behind her past life.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hutton |first=Deborah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAvqAAAAMAAJ&q=yogini+myna |title=Art of the Court of Bijapur |date=18 December 2006 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-34784-8 |language=en}}</ref> However, her attire consisting of the '']'', golden '']'', and lavish gold jewellery suggest that she belongs to the aristocracy. In South Asian literature, myna birds are associated with noble ladies, who keep them as pets. The palace in the background gives rise to the interpretation that she has left behind her past life.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hutton |first=Deborah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAvqAAAAMAAJ&q=yogini+myna |title=Art of the Court of Bijapur |date=18 December 2006 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-34784-8 |language=en}}</ref>


This depiction of princess-like yoginis is common in Deccan art. Examples of this include a painting in the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |author-link=B. N. Goswamy |title='Art & soul: Yoginis from the Deccan |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/remembering-bn-goswamy/art-soul-yoginis-from-the-deccan/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |website=The Tribune |language=en}}</ref> This depiction of princess-like yoginis is common in Deccan art. Examples of this include a painting in the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |author-link=B. N. Goswamy |title='Art & soul: Yoginis from the Deccan |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/remembering-bn-goswamy/art-soul-yoginis-from-the-deccan/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |website=The Tribune |language=en}}</ref>
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Latest revision as of 16:47, 14 January 2025

17th-century Indian painting

Yogini with a Mynah Bird
Dimensions44 cm × 32 cm (17 in × 13 in)
LocationChester Beatty Library, Dublin

Yogini with a Mynah Bird is a Deccan-styled painting located in the Chester Beatty Library.

Background

It is dated to the early 17th century, and presumably commissioned for the court of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

Description

The principal subject is a woman, who has the characteristic features of a yogini, with ash-coloured skin and top-knotted hair. She is wearing a red peshwaj, with a golden dupatta and gold jewellery. A myna bird is perched upon her right hand.

On either side of the woman are lotus and peony plants, the design of which was likely copied from Chinese porcelain or textiles. In the background is a golden sky, beneath which are rocks characteristic of the Deccan, and a hill, atop which is a palace. The painting is surrounded by poetic texts in Persian, on all four sides.

Analysis

Another depiction of a princess-like yogini in a Deccan painting, dated to about 1600, located in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum.

The woman's appearance gives rise to conflicting interpretations. Her top-knotted hair and ash-besmeared skin identify her as a yogini. The elongated shape of her body also points toward her status as an ascetic, as her leanness may be due to fasting.

However, her attire consisting of the peshwaj, golden dupatta, and lavish gold jewellery suggest that she belongs to the aristocracy. In South Asian literature, myna birds are associated with noble ladies, who keep them as pets. The palace in the background gives rise to the interpretation that she has left behind her past life.

This depiction of princess-like yoginis is common in Deccan art. Examples of this include a painting in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum.

Mark Zebrowski interprets her to be a sorceress. He describes her face as "Medusa-like" and points out that the bird could represent an ill omen. He says that the dark theme of the painting may represent the "seductive heresies" that enticed Ibrahim II away from orthodox Islam.

References

Notes

  1. Ibrahim Adil Shah II was fascinated by Hinduism as well as mysticism, and described himself as a Hindu god in one of the poems he composed in the Kitab-i Nauras.Zebrowski 1983, p. 67, 70

Citations

  1. ^ Haidar, Navina Najat; Sardar, Marika (13 April 2015). Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 98–100. ISBN 978-0-300-21110-8.
  2. ^ Brainerd, Madeleine; Kitao, Kaori (2018). "Yogini and Mynah Bird: On the Poetics and Politics of Transspecies Meditation". Mocking Bird Technologies: The Poetics of Parroting, Mimicry, and Other Starling Tropes. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-7848-0. JSTOR j.ctt1xzh12b.
  3. ^ Goswamy, B. N. (2014). The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100–1900. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-670-08657-3.
  4. ^ Goswamy, B. N. (30 October 2024). Ruminations: 101 & more short essays on the spirit of Indian art. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-6790-887-7.
  5. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (14 April 2021). "Navina Najat Haidar, Kathleen James-Chakraborty and Abeer Gupta to discuss the intersection of art and rock formations of Hyderabad and Deccan". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  6. Harle, J. C. The Art and Architecture of The Indian Subcontinent. p. 400.
  7. Hutton, Deborah (18 December 2006). Art of the Court of Bijapur. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34784-8.
  8. Goswamy, B. N. "'Art & soul: Yoginis from the Deccan". The Tribune. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  9. Michell, George; Zebrowski, Mark. Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates (PDF). The New Cambridge History of India I : 7. Cambridge University Press. pp. 173–174. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2023.
  10. Zebrowski 1983, p. 104.

Bibliography

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