Attributed to the artist Manohar, this spare and unfinished work depicts Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal. Even as a work in progress, this image suggests the thoughts and emotions of the subjects, both human and animal.

Take a close look at the work, rolling your cursor over the image to magnify. What do you see? How would you describe the artist’s use of lines? What about shading? How have lines been used to render details?

If the artist had developed this image further, what do you think the artist’s next steps might have been?

Take a look at this work by the same artist, Manohar: www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps027298.jpg

What similarities and differences do you notice? What do you think about the artist’s use of colors? How might they help tell the story?