a prince with a falcon

The present portrait may have been a noble commission to demonstrate status, as the inclusion of a falcon in the composition makes reference to the archetypal prince’s skill in hunting. This portrait and others like it were typical of Kishangarh, particularly around the lifetime of the artist Nihal Chand (c. 1710- 1782), whose training in the imperial Mughal workshops at Delhi helped him create a popular new style of portraiture combining Mughal naturalism with the traditional romantic and poetic idealization previously beloved in Kishangarh. The signature Kishangarh style began to develop under the patronage of Raj Singh (r. 1706-1748), and reached full-fledged actualization under Sawant Singh (r. 1748-1764). As the present painting dates to the latter part of the eighteenth century, it stands as an example of this Mughal-infused style at its most evolved.