Equestrian Portrait of Maharana Raj Singh II of Mewar (r. 1755–62) (c. 1760): Art, History and Details

Equestrian Portrait of Maharana Raj Singh II of Mewar (r. 1755–62) (c. 1760) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The youthful king was only eleven years old when he inherited the throne from his father Pratap Singh II (r. 1752–55). Here shown with barely the beginnings of facial hair starting to grow, he wears a gorgeous turban with fresh flowers tucked into the bejeweled band, and a lion-headed dagger in his belt. Multicolored clouds gather forbiddingly in the sky, promising rain, as the black stallion trots through the grasses, and he gestures to his attendants not to be afraid.

Object facts

• Title: Equestrian Portrait of Maharana Raj Singh II of Mewar (r. 1755–62)
• Date: c. 1760
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: 40 x 28 cm (15 3/4 x 11 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.148

A detail from the museum

The two attendants behind the horse’s rear hold flowers to their noses.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.