Balwant Singh Having His Beard Trimmed
by Nainsukh
Guler School. 1755 AD.
Nainshukh enlarged the themes of miniature paintings. Here we see an ordinary event of a nobleman getting his beard trimmed.
This is not a usual portrait of a nobleman. For we have caught him at an intimate moment. We are a privy to his private moment. The painting reveals the informal relationship between the ruler and the ruled. It also depicts the simplicity of the ruler. One does not find the opulence, the formality, the aloofness of the Mughal Emperors. Here the viewer is like a friend who can walk into the inner apartment and catch the nobleman having his beard trimmed.
Yet the painting can also be seen as being allegorical: time trims our life, till we are shaved away. Only Nainshuk could see the significance of the moment.
This is not a usual portrait of a nobleman. For we have caught him at an intimate moment. We are a privy to his private moment. The painting reveals the informal relationship between the ruler and the ruled. It also depicts the simplicity of the ruler. One does not find the opulence, the formality, the aloofness of the Mughal Emperors. Here the viewer is like a friend who can walk into the inner apartment and catch the nobleman having his beard trimmed.
Yet the painting can also be seen as being allegorical: time trims our life, till we are shaved away. Only Nainshuk could see the significance of the moment.
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