Portrait of Bibi Juliyana | Restored Mughal Wall Art

An extraordinarily intimate close-up portrait of Bibi Juliyana (Juliana Dias da Costa) — a Portuguese woman who served as attendant in the imperial zenana of the Mughal court under Bahadur Shah I. Every wrinkle of her aged face, every gold ear-ornament, every pearl on her necklace is rendered with the disciplined naturalism of late Mughal portraiture.

Juliana was born in Cochin around 1658, came to the Mughal court as a young woman, and became one of the few European women to hold influence at the imperial court — entrusted with diplomatic missions on behalf of the Mughal state. This portrait is one of the most striking surviving images of a European at the Mughal court.

Restored from the museum archives by aurahliving.com.

Anonymous Mughal painter, late 17th / early 18th century. Public domain.