Saint Cecilia

The Mughal emperors collected European paintings and engravings, many of which were brought to the court in the late 16th and early 17th century by successive Jesuit missions who travelled to Delhi, Agra and Lahore from Portuguese Goa. The artists employed by the emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) often copied these exotic works of art. This painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia is a close copy of an engraving by Jerome [Hieronymus] Wierix. The painting is ascribed to a female artist, Nini, whose work is otherwise unknown. It is mounted on a decorated page formerly bound in an album compiled for Shah Jahan.