The Portrait of a Peasant

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This shah-kalam portrait of a well off peasant is outstanding in the clarity of figure, impressiveness of posture and well defined features. The artist has achieved these results without the use of hard lines, nor by using any colors in his delineation, save some traces of pink used for shading the delicate brush work and golden yellow for defining the margins. Using an extremely sensitive brush, a single medium, the artist has wondrously arrived at the desired forms, the sharp features including the glowing eyes, the rhythmic vitality of the raised hand and advancing feet, the elegantly placed turban, and the dhoti and chaddar on his shoulder.

The shoes in his feet, moderately rich turban, the rich look of dhoti and the chaddar, speak of his comfortable financial position, especially in the context of the economy of the medieval days.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.