Portrait of a Lady

Unknown artist

This young woman wears countless pieces of jewellery and her fingers are stained with henna. Attention was lavished on the translucent fabrics in which she is swathed. Such portraits of women came into fashion around the mid-17th century under the influence of the Mogul prince Dara Shikoh. The portraits were idealized, because an artist would never have been allowed inside the women’s private quarters.