Reflections on a miniature painting with ‘Deccan Ruler’

Gommans, J.J.L. (2025)

Article / Letter to editor

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.

• Deccani painting
• Dutch in India
• Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
• Sufism

• All authors: Gommans, J.J.L.
• Date: 2025-12-01
• Journal: The Rijksmuseum Bulletin
• Volume: 73
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 338 - 349
• Link: https://bulletin.rijksmuseum.nl/