Equestrian Portrait of Maharao Sheodan Singh of Alwar (1857-1874)

ca. 1863

The young prince Sheodan Singh, clad in white and gold, rides a superb dappled grey with precious trappings of fabric, gold and pearls. Born in 1845, he was the only son of the maharao Bane Singh (1815−1857) of Alwar, a principality of Rajasthan. A great patron of the arts, the maharao commissioned paintings and manuscripts from the leading artists and craftsmen in Delhi. Heroic and full of promise, the very embodiment of the chivalrous Rajput ideal, the prince bears on his forehead the distinctive marking of a member of the Saiva sect, a devotee of the god Shiva. This equestrian portrait was probably cut from a larger painting of a procession.