Maharana Jagat Singh Hawks for Cranes

Shiva and Dayal

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

This sweeping Mewar court painting captures a royal hawking expedition in brilliant ochre, olive, and rose tones, with Maharana Jagat Singh and his mounted retinue threading through a landscape alive with tiny, meticulously rendered figures, horses, and fields. The artists Shiva and Dayal employ a bird's-eye perspective typical of Udaipur painting workshops, stacking vignettes of the hunt, courtiers, and village life across the composition rather than using Western linear perspective. Flocks of cranes wheel over rolling hills while retainers on horseback fan out across the terrain, creating a vivid tapestry of Rajput court leisure and pageantry. Its intricate detail and narrative richness make it a captivating centerpiece that rewards close, repeated viewing on a large display.