Reflections on a miniature painting with ‘Deccan Ruler’

Abstract

This short notice offers a reflection on a seventeenth-century Indian miniature painting in the Rijksmuseum. It shows a prince in conjunction with a mirror, accompanied by a verse from the Quran written in mirror image, and on the painting's reverse, a likely contemporary, Dutch-language inscription conveying the image's content. Although the occult meaning of the artist seems clear, the precise object of the painting remains enigmatic.