Ustad Mansur

Ustad Mansur was a seventeenth century Mughal painter and court artist of Jehangir[1] who specialised in depicting plants and animals.

Life and works

Ustad Mansur started his career during the last few years of Akbar's reign as a minor painter. But during the reign of Jahangir, he created his masterpieces. Jahangir bestowed on him the title of Nadir-ul-Asar. His two signed works, one of a rare Siberian Crane and the other of a Bengal Florican are in the Indian Museum, Kolkata. His other works are in the National Museum, Delhi, the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, Jaipur and the Chhatrapati Sivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai.[2]

He was the first artist to paint both the Siberian Crane[3] and the Dodo. The Dodo was brought to Jehangir's court via Portuguese controlled Goa and a painting of it is found in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and unsigned but attributed to Mansur.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ^ Verma, S. P. 1999. Mughal Painter of Flora and Fauna Ustad Mansur. Abhinav Publications.
  2. ^ Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2007). The Mughul Empire, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN 81-7276-407-1, p. 815
  3. ^ Rangarajan, M. (2001) India's Wildlife History, pp 14.
  4. ^ Das, A.K. 1974. "Ustad Mansur", Lalit, 17, 1974. p. 37.
  5. ^ Rangarajan, M. (2001) India's Wildlife History, p. 19.
  6. ^ Ustad Mansur paintings