WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Basawan

Basawan

1556⚠–1600

WA-00042179

Uttar Pradesh, India

Painting

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

70%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

WikidataQ728311

Field Verification (3 fields)

1 cross-verified · 2 single-source

Is PublishedManual· 100%✓
Birth yearArtsy· 85%
NationalityArtsy· 85%

Source Registry (1)

Aichttps://www.artic.edu/artists/100581
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred95%

About

Why this artist matters now

Basāwan, or Basāvan, was an Indian miniature painter in the Mughal style. He was known by his contemporaries as a skilled colorist and keen observer of human nature, and for his use of portraiture in the illustrations of Akbarnama, Mughal Emperor, Akbar's official Biography, which is seen as an innovation in Indian art.

Source: Aic · Trust score: 95% · Updated 17d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (2)

The Young Emperor Akbar Arrests the Insolent Shah Abu’l-Maali, Page from a Manuscript of the Akbarnama

1585 · Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Image: 32 × 19.3 cm (12 5/8 × 7 9/16 in.); Outermost border: 33 × 19.6 cm (13 × 7 11/16 in.); Page: 34.4 × 20 cm (13 1/2 × 7 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

The monkey slain, his blood to be used as medicine for the ailing prince he has bitten, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night

1555 · gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 10.3 x 10.6 cm (4 1/16 x 4 3/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Artwork sources (3)

2 published of 20 catalogued · 20 with image

Art Institute Chicago
1 publishedof 2 catalogued2 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
1 published1 img
+ 1 more source · 17 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

The monkey slain, his blood to be used as medicine for the ailing prince he has bitten, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night
1555 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Collections1

Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet