Diving Dipper and Other Birds | Restored Mughal Wall Art

A small flock of birds gathered on a rocky outcrop above a stream — a diving dipper on its perch, two smaller birds beside it, peaks resembling the lunar mountainscape of Kashmir to Ladakh rising behind. Even the gentle plant at the foreground is rendered with the precision Mughal naturalist painting was famous for.

Painted by Mansur, the great Mughal naturalist of Jahangir's atelier, ca. 1610-15. Inscribed: "work [amal] of the servant of the palace Nadir al-asr Mansur the painter." Nadir al-asr — "wonder of the age" — was the title Jahangir himself bestowed on Mansur for the precision of his nature studies.

The folio belongs to the Shah Jahan Album, the most ambitious imperial album ever assembled by the Mughal court — commissioned to honour the painters and calligraphers of his father Jahangir's atelier.

Restored from the museum archives by aurahliving.com.