A Piece of Art from the Al-Sabah Collection Presented at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Texas

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Recommended: Formal analysis on an art piece

A piece of art is analyzed by the viewer which is presented at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston Texas. This particular piece is displayed in the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait. The item number is Inv. no. LNS 106 MS. The title provided by the museum informs the viewer that, this is a 17th century album page from Mughal dominions, India; which is made with Ink, colors, and gold on a paper. The painter used these materials and the overall theme of the art work to convey the message to the viewer that, the Mughals king is braver, powerful, and wealthy. In this painting a Mughal king or prince is hunting lions in the wild with his men. To show the importance of the scene, the painter put three rectangular borders around the artwork. Each border is of different size, color, and texture.
As the painting is viewed from the outside a large rectangular border is shown. This border appears to be a page from the album. It is light gold and light brown in color, and it is outlined with a solid gold outline on both ends. On the inside, it is imprinted with rows of small gold plants, each one with a six petal flower, two leafs, and a shot stem. These rows of flowers are shown from a top side view which is consistent with the theme of the painting. These rows of flowers run from top to bottom and side to side. The plants made with gold represent the wealth of Mughal kings. Inside of this border is a second border.
The second border is the second largest border in size, and it is outlined with a solid white line. It is white, green, and gold in color. It is decorated with gold flowers and gold leafs on top of a green background, which runs through the border in a symmetrically continuous fashion. These gold flowers and leafs provide contrast,...

... middle of paper ...

...inter made the king figure obvious to the viewer by drawing him with different color armor, horse, and a more decorated turban.
The artist used the colors and materials to make the painting look flawless. The gold used in the painting shines upon lights reflection. The dark green border compliments the dark green cloth used only in decorating the king’s horse.
The artist used the materials and the overall theme of the art work to convey the message that, the Mughal king is braver, powerful, and wealthy. In particular, the use of gold by the artist, to draw the borders, the king’s turban, and the king’s armor, is to draw attention toward the king’s wealth. The artist depicted the slaying of a lion by king in the wild, is to show his bravery. The use of elephant, horses, and men power by the artist in the painting is to illustrate to the viewer the power of the king.

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