Two holy men conversing in a landscape, attributable to Payag, India, Mughal, first half 17th century

This finely rendered depiction of two holy men conversing in a landscape is very close in style to the work of the well-known seventeenth century Mughal artist Payag. He was the brother of the artist Balchand, and active at the royal Mughal atelier from circa 1591-1658. Payag’s career began at the end of the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s reign, before working for Prince Salim in Allahabad around 1600 and later for Shah Jahan. In the 1640s and 50s, he became known for his depictions of mystics and nocturnal scenes.

The most distinctive feature of Payag's style present here is the glowing golden sky streaked with red, against which trees with delicately hanging tamarind pods are set. A very similar treatment can be seen in the well-known scene attributed to Payag, of Soldiers Listening to Music Beneath a Mango Tree, from the Late Shah Jahan Album, now in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (In 07B.20, J. Seyller, ‘Payag’ in Beach, Fischer, Goswamy (ed.), Masters of Indian Painting, 1100-1650, Vol.I, Zurich, 2011, p.323, no.17, illus. on p.334, fig.10.). Payag’s use of blazing skies in his compositions was inspired by contemporary European masters whose paintings were studied closely by Mughal artists. 

Another feature that can be associated with Payag is the particular shape of the faces of the two ascetics, with a slim, straight, slightly long nose and visible wrinkles around the eyes. Similar face types can be seen in a Night Scene depicting a gathering of holy men, ascribed to Payag, in the Indian Museum in Calcutta (illus. in A. Okada, Imperial Mughal Painters, Paris 2000, p.214, fig.252).

A painting depicting mystics around a campfire, attributable to Payag, dated to circa 1650, sold in these rooms, 9 April 2008, lot 60. An almost identical version of this painting, also attributable to Payag, sold in these rooms, 5 October 2011, lot 131.