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Ustad Mansur and Flora and Fauna

Ustad Mansur was a renowned Mughal painter best known for his naturalistic portraits of birds, animals, and flowers. He started his career assisting Kanha and collaborating with other masters, focusing on coloring their drawings. By the late 16th century, he gained recognition as a solo painter in works like the Akbarnama illustrations. Mansur received further acclaim from Jahangir in the early 17th century for his precise depictions of gifts like a turkey cock. Jahangir commissioned many works from Mansur and bestowed him the title of Nadir-ul-Asr in recognition of his unparalleled skill and perfection in painting nature. Throughout his career, Mansur maintained a singular focus

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577 views18 pages

Ustad Mansur and Flora and Fauna

Ustad Mansur was a renowned Mughal painter best known for his naturalistic portraits of birds, animals, and flowers. He started his career assisting Kanha and collaborating with other masters, focusing on coloring their drawings. By the late 16th century, he gained recognition as a solo painter in works like the Akbarnama illustrations. Mansur received further acclaim from Jahangir in the early 17th century for his precise depictions of gifts like a turkey cock. Jahangir commissioned many works from Mansur and bestowed him the title of Nadir-ul-Asr in recognition of his unparalleled skill and perfection in painting nature. Throughout his career, Mansur maintained a singular focus

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Ustad Mansur /Flora and

Fauna

Discus the importance of flora and


fauna in mughal miniature painting?

Earliest Reference to Mansur is found in


the dispersed miniatures of Baburnama
At Freer Gallery of art, Washington, and
is dated between 1590-95.
Valuable work can be traced in the
painting of Jahangirs period.
In early phase his surviving work are the
illustrations of Baburnama dated 15901600.
Mansur Started his career as a assistant
collaborator of Kanha, a leading painter
of Akbar atelier.

Here Mansur has done coloring in the


drawings made by Kanha.
Though in cooperative works the
individuality of painters is hard to
differentiate But carful drawings and
thinly applied paint, but, seem
especially characteristic of Mansur.
As such, we have to look for some
other finer points in the painting to
locate Mansur, like the particular
formation of bird flights, The
treatment of sky and vegetation,
aspects where Mansur is clearly

His special way of handling them could be


traced to his other independent works as well.
Mansur in his early phase also Collaborated
with the master painters like Basawan,
Maskin and Nanha on the manuscripts of Jamiul- Tawarikh and Akbarnama.
In these joint works Mansur was only
assigned to color. By the end of Akbar period
he was successful to gained identification as a
solo painter in the illustrations of Akbarnama.
After that he gained the title of USTAD. The
term Ustad was an honorific title denoting an
individuals excellence in his profession.

Mansur had attained his reputation earlier


than 1618, which can be incidental from his
signed ascription given on the
miniature(Turkey Cock) in 1612.
The Turkey Cock brought by Muqarrab Khan
from Goa was represented to Jahangir in
1612.
Jahangir has confidence in Mansur ability for
exactness in painting.
In the following year 1620 when Jahangir
visited Kashmir, Mansur who was with him,
had yet another assignment to fulfill to paint
the exotic flora of the valley.

Turkey cock

The Tulip

In this wonderful throbbing age of his


action, Mansur the great painter of natural
history, received recognition of rare
excellence in Jahangir's atelier.
Jahangir's gave him the title of Nadir-ul-Asr.
Mansur had undoubtedly attained such a
perfection and progress that his position as
a portrait painter of birds and animals had
become supreme.
In the art of drawing he was unique in his
generation according to the memories of
Jahangir.

In 1619, Jahangir ordered Mansur to paint the


likeness of the falcon brought as a gift from Shah
Abbass of Persia.
It can be generally observed, a very plain back
drop showing a moving back landscape merge with
a low and blurred horizon of a flat sky.
He always achieves a total harmony between the
back ground treatment and a naturalistic
foreground figures.
The casual growth of flowering plants or weeds and
shrubs or rocky contours etc in the landscape is just
satisfied with covering the spaces in various styles
without meaning much, but they create certain
rhythms and moods that match the captured
moment of the main object of his painting.

Main theme of the painting of Ustad Mansur,


it covers the maximum space in the frame.
The figures amazingly impose on the area of
the frame with singular dignity.
The domination of the main figure is
achieved through minimization of the other
details.
Mansur preference for subdued background
in a harmonious blend thin color, results in
relating the natural surrounding with a main
figure and simultaneously, producing relief
effect. E.g, falcon and Zebra.

Falcon

In the background landscape were treated


in horizontal and bold brush which create
contrast with minor details and delicate
fine lines of the main drawing. E.g, Nilgai
The handling of pigment with such great
frankness and boldness could be located
in Mansur's expression as early as 1620.
Natural vegetation provides depth and
control scale perspective in animal
portrait.
The color of the background are
monochrome with stylized plants.

In the miniatures the color laid in the


background does not help to
distinguish the planes. It is only the
growth of plants and flight of birds
which suggests horizontal and
vertical planes.
The distant bird at the far end shown
comparatively smaller than in the
middle of the picture, to create
depth, which is the western
influence.
In general, Mansurs drawings exhibit

Mansur adopted for his bird and animal


portraits the same contemporary norms
and conventions of human portraiture as
trained in the Mughal atelier.
With isolated, single figure in profile
dominating the whole composition with a
casual landscape and flat background.
Mansur studies are concentrated on purely
objective reproductions of the calmly and
closely observed birds and animals.
Animal drawings treated as still life
portraits in the most realistic manner.

During the entire period of his career of


three decades 1597-1627, the miniatures
that are ascribed to him show his total
devotion to painting of birds, animals and
flowers portraits with very minor shifts.
In the execution of the portrait he shows
superb draughtsman ship, boldness and
accuracy.
His sole credit and greatest achievement
lay in reproducing natural history most
objectively, incorporating in it the best
aesthetic qualities of the Mughal art.

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