{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O66623"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O66623/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GL0484/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GL0484/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GL0484","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GL0488","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O66623/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O66623","accessionNumber":"IS.2509-1883","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Hamza arrives in Mecca","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The <i>Hamzanama</i>, or 'Book of Hamza' was commissioned by the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-16th century. The epic story of a character based very loosely on the life of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the court, in multiple volumes. These originally had 1400 illustrations, of which fewer than 200 survive today. There is no known independent contemporary version of the text which survives in fragmentary form on the backs of the remaining illustrations, making it difficult to follow the stories. Work on the project probably began in about 1562 and took 15 years to complete.\r\n\r\nHere, Hamza has arrived in Mecca with a great entourage. The faces of all the living beings in the painting, whether human or animal, have been deliberately obliterated, probably in the 19th century.","physicalDescription":"A royal figure on horseback is at the centre of the composition, gesturing towards standing figures in front of him on the right. His royal status is indicated by his turban plume and the aftabgir or sunshade held above his head. In the background is a walled city behind rocks, with a minar depicted towards the right in the middle of th epicture. the faces of all the people and animals have been deliberately obliterated.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"},{"text":"cotton","id":"AAT14067"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"gouache on prepared cotton backed with paper","categories":[{"text":"Islam","id":"THES48932"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Architecture","id":"THES48993"}],"styles":[{"text":"Mughal court","id":"x30977"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2013GL0484","2013GL0488"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES403674"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1562-1577","earliest":"1557-01-01","latest":"1577-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"66.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"50.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Painting number 43, text number 44."}],"objectHistory":"An illustration to the epic romance of the Hamzanama commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar. bought for the museum by Caspar Purdon Clarke in Srinagar in 1881.","historicalContext":"The 'Hamzanama' was the first major project undertaken by the new painting studio of the Mughal court. Directed by two Iranian masters brought to India by Humayun, work began under Akbar and was said to have taken fifteen years to complete, drawing from artists from all over northern Hindustan.","briefDescription":"Hamza goes to Mecca with a great entourage. Hamzanama, ca.1562-77","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Seyller, John. The Adventures of Hamza. Smithsonian Institution. 2002, cat. R152, pp. 274-275."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gluck, 1925, fig. 4."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Caspar Stanley Clarke, 1921, pl. 2."},{"reference":{"text":"C. Stanley Clarke; Twelve Mogul Paintings of the School of Humaym (16th century) illustrating the Romance of Amir Hamzah, H.M.S.O. 1921","id":"AUTH348471"},"details":"pl. 2","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Mecca","id":"x36454"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Hamza","id":"N3936"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"horse","id":"x30117"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2509-1883"],"accessionNumberNum":"2509","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1883,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-06","recordCreationDate":"2002-07-08","availableToBook":false}}