Page from the St. Petersburg Album: Madhavanala Swooning at the Sight of Kamakandala (Primary Title)
Page from the St. Petersburg Album: Madava Swooning before Kamakandala (Primary Title)
Shiv Das (Artist)
This opulent folio is from the St. Petersburg Album, which was assembled in Persia beginning in the mid-18th century and most of which was moved to Russia in 1910. Exquisitely painted borders surround three fine examples of Persian calligraphy penned by Mir'Imad al-Husayni of Qazvin (1553/54–1615). Like the Mughal painting on the other side of the page, these calligraphies might have been part of the spoils from Nadir Shah’s sack of Delhi in 1739. Mir'Imad was the last great master of the Nasta'liq script, and as these recycled examples attest, his work was highly prized by collectors and connoisseurs in both India and Persia. A minute inscription in the upper left corner of the border seems to indicate it was painted in the early 19th century. If so, assembly of the album continued for nearly a century.
later Imperial
Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Paul Mellon
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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