A European crusader on horseback, India, Mughal, circa 1600

Collection of Lavinia, Marchioness of Cholmondeley (1921-2015), thence by descent. 

This Mughal depiction of a European crusader on horseback fighting a local barefoot warrior shows the strong influence of European engravings. The figure of the crusader is derived from an unidentified European print. Europeans first arrived in Mughal India in the 1570s. The Mughal Emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605) encountered Jesuit missionaries for the first time while besieging the port of Surat in Gujarat in 1573. This painting is a fine example of artists at the imperial Mughal atelier responding to European engravings and paintings which were brought to the Mughal court in North India by Jesuit missionaries and European traders around 1580. European inspired Mughal paintings have been attributed to master Mughal artists such as Keshav Gas, Basawan, Manohar, La’l and Abu’l Hasan, to name a few. The Mughal Emperor Akbar and his son, Jahangir (r.1605-27), both had a keen interest in European imagery, including devotional subjects, and many of these paintings were produced under their patronage.