Squirrels in a Plane Tree

A miniature masterpiece by Abu l'Hasan which characterizes the naturalistic movement in Mughal painting under the reign of Emperor Jahangir

“On this date, Abu’l Hasan the artist, who had been awarded the title Nadir al-Zaman [Wonder of the Age], presented a painting he had made …. Since it was worthy of praise, he was shown limitless favor. Without exaggeration, his work is perfect, and his depiction is a masterpiece of the age.”

-Emperor Jahangir

A dozen squirrels jump, chatter, and cling to the trunk and branches of a multicolored plane tree in autumn. Below them is a man set to climb, his bare foot planted at the base of the trunk, ready to thrust himself upward.  We see goats, deer, a heron and a couple of pheasants paying little to no attention to the excitement in the tree, as they lie about and nibble on the grass.  The fields are filled with flowers, shrubs, and large craggy rocks jutting from the earth.  Above even the squirrels, birds swoop up and drop down in a golden sky, while others sit on the branches, their white chests producing a staccato effect throughout the red, orange and green leaves.  The short arcs of the squirrels’ tails produce a circular rhythm echoed by the branches of the tree. The painting is radiant and alive—a depiction of rustling, leaping, swirling nature.