Botanical Painting: Composite Flower

Unknown

ca. 1630 · Opaque color on paper · Islamic Art

This painting of a fantastical, composite plant is one of three in a series, the others of which include Geranium and Dianthus. These works, with their matching blue and gold border, were mounted together in a now-dispersed royal album. The paintings themselves are typical of the botanical style that were created in the Mughal court, and yet this work is distinct in that it does not illustrate a real plant, but rather the artist has creatively combined the leaves, stem, and flowers of various plants to create an invented, hybrid form.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1630

Medium

Opaque color on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions and 2020 Benefit Funds; Howard S. and Nancy Marks Gift; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; The Mossavar-Rahmani Fund for Iranian Art and funds from various donors, 2022