painting (art)

A scene from the Mahabharata, depicting Raja Yudhishtira (dressed in white, on the right edge) surveying Hell in search of his son. The text, in late 19th-century Urdu, written in a cursive nasta'liq-e khafi hand, refers to the painting as 'Plate number 133.' The painting dates from the late 19th century, probably from the art schools of Jaipur, India, and adapts a composition from the dispersed late 16th century 'Jaipur' Razmnamah manuscript (in the Jaipur royal collection, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, and British Library), an illustrated Persian translation from the original Sanskrit (version by Naqib Khan) created at the court of the third Mogul Emperor, Akbar I (d. 1605). Surrounded by a painted frame with floral motifs.