Parrots Hovering over Plant

Flora and fauna is stupendously depicted in art of the Mughal School. While flowers were a common motif and an integral part of design in Indian art from very early times, it was only with the emergence of the Mughal School that they became subjects of paintings, rather than embellishments.

This rare botanical painting of exquisite beauty has meticulously drawn twigs with leaves, buds and flowers in a variety of arrangement. The naturalistic treatment of the plant's structure, with even the minutest knots and bulges, and the leaves displaying mid-ribs with parallel venation is thoroughly maintained. The accuracy of its detail can be seen in the bend of the stems, the drawing of the leaves and also the various stages of flowering from bud to full blossom. The plant also bears some kind of a fruit at which the birds are pecking at. The grass at the base of the plant is bright green. The artist has used various shades of green in the painting but none clash. He has deftly avoided any monotony creeping into the painting. There is movement in an otherwise stationary picture. This has been attained with the help of two parrots hovering over the plant. They also intensify the naturalistic impact of the flower study through the addition of ecological harmony that exists in nature. A somewhat disproportionate size of the parrots arrest the eye a bit oddly and thereby hampers the effect of the graceful, proud rise of the flower. The pale background helps in brightening up in relief the flowering plant as a whole as well as enhance its vertical movement.

The painting is framed at the top and bottom by calligraphic embellishments.

This description by Renu Rana.