Finch, Poppies, Dragonfly, and Bee

1650-1670

The Mughal emperors introduced botanical and ornithological paintings to northern India in the sixteenth century. This painting represents a variation on that tradition because all of the natural elements have been rendered in a fanciful palette of intense colors. While the fantastic rock form and the representation of more than one species recall paintings by the Persian artist Riza ‘Abbasi, the use of jewel tones suggests that it was made in the southern Indian region known as the Deccan, where the poppy and the dragonfly were often used as emblems of the seasons.