Hunting with falcons in a landscape (recto) (c. 1558–60; borders added probably 1700s): Art, History and Details

Hunting with falcons in a landscape (recto) (c. 1558–60; borders added probably 1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Abd al-Samad (Persian, c. 1510–1600).

The work and its context

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

Mughal princes hunted on horseback with falcons. The hunting party would ride out into the wild and flush the prey from the brush. Then, its hood removed, the falcon would chase the prey and bring it down. This important work is thought to have been painted by one of the Persian artists Akbar’s father brought to India from Iran shortly after his arrival in India. The delicacy of the diminutive figures and the gently modeled rocks of the arid landscape contrast to the boldly dynamic paintings made by Indian artists.

Object facts

• Title: Hunting with falcons in a landscape (recto)
• Date: c. 1558–60; borders added probably 1700s
• Creator attribution: Abd al-Samad (Persian, c. 1510–1600)
• Culture: Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 35.7 x 24.3 cm (14 1/16 x 9 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art - Mughal
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2013.292.a

A detail from the museum

The hunter’s glove is on the ground, as he pulls his falcon off the duck.

Collection credit

Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), and Arnold Talbot Wilson. Persian art: an illustrated souvenir of the exhibition of Persian art at Burlington house, London, 1931. [London]: Printed for the Executive Committee of the exhibition by Hudson & Kearns Ltd, 1931.
• Wilson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Partrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931.
• Wilson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Partrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931.

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.