In the 17th century, Rembrandt made a set of etchings of people garbed in clothes uncannily similar to the north Indian attire of the time.
![](https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/scrollstorage/1434119607-758_Old-Men--British-Museum.jpg)
Four Orientals seated under a tree, c 1656-1661
Photo credit: British Museum
How did he, who never set foot out of the Dutch Republic know what “orientals” wore?
![](https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/scrollstorage/1434119891-410_A-Mughal-nobleman-on-horseback--British-Museum.jpg)
A Mughal nobleman on horseback, c 1656-1661
Height: 205 millimetres, Width: 177 millimetres
Height: 205 millimetres, Width: 177 millimetres
Photo credit: British Museum
A Mughal nobleman on horseback; after a Mughal miniature, a man, with slight beard, holding a two-headed lance seated on a horse which is rearing to right. c.1656-1661
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash, touched with red and yellow chalk and white heightening and with some scraping-out, on oriental paper; the lance drawn with a ruler.
![](https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/scrollstorage/1434120161-1159_Mughal-noblemen--Carolina-Museum.jpg)
Indian Prince as Warrior, c. 1655
Brown ink, brown wash, black chalk and white opaque watercolor on Asian paper; later additions in gray wash and scratchwork, framing line in brown ink
18 x 7.3 cm (7 1/16 x 2 7/8 in.)
Brown ink, brown wash, black chalk and white opaque watercolor on Asian paper; later additions in gray wash and scratchwork, framing line in brown ink
18 x 7.3 cm (7 1/16 x 2 7/8 in.)
Photo credit: Fogg Museum of Art
Mughal miniatures might have made their way to the damp and distant home of the Dutch painter.
A Mughal nobleman on horseback
At the Louvre
![A Mughal Nobleman standing, after a Mughal miniature; WL, almost in profile to r, his r hand on the handle of a dagger in his belt. c.1656-61 Pen and brown ink, with grey and brown wash, touched with red chalk and heightened with white, on Oriental paper](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_s_PggGaPPwcmgwYwf8yxmIt1uxjHKEHxtUKovv8RbRIkp27e8Eo5a0oyh15jDB-8dKkIdE7UkAv5eMMsApuP4GEpS-QrehMrjp_5eG7FZrlzFuFlnLH8JnEr6VfzWhjVW6bsF6GxFxD5k0dP3E=s0-d)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
A Mughal Nobleman standing, 1656-1661 (circa)
paper Drawing
Height: 184 millimetres, Width: 112 millimetres
British Museum
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Shah Jahan, Netherlands (1654-56)
Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash on Japanese paper.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
The Emperor Timur Enthroned, (1654-56)
Pen and wash in Indian ink on Japanese paper.
Musée du Louvre, Paris
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uvpoWgEJ42_rKdfxhxiElh8ZKN0seAlPHa0Qn96L34KFp1nEgYVElpSzH4VLWh-5khFWOIizjF6zHiQc6tp_grW7pEldOinZzgTFLIMKO_rQSQXOhHCLKcIqb9uUvXFy5SlcCz=s0-d)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
The Emperor Akbar and his Son Selim in Apotheosis, Leiden 1606
pen and brown ink, brown wash, corrected with white bodycolour
212 x 174 mm
Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tf-_j3jSPaoTcBM8qHomI5hEU0jmzNsFiAg9_L9gr4MrsJdjbrslI3qPSR18TJFGv1my7MsrSW2GBhd7gr3Eq1aUjGZhfIrEr6IB0UO0aBDMV2wEYRGsjj-Cnp_EmZEPw_67ZAZNvcEFzR2wk_-f0P2popNkC2TWQ9HRDSuUzBjCg=s0-d)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh, 1654-1656
Pen and brown ink and brown wash
Japanese paper
8 3/8 x 7 in.
The J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Two Mughal noblemen, 1656-1661 (circa)
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash
Height: 172 millimetres, Width: 214 millimetres
British Museum
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sgGA72em7OuhLUj90_Bm55vxAk3rTyMlTJwq2XJlCDEf4Fsv99Amt18Dnp9SEjvkjQ05LG1Rj7XJc1K8wTodCptw_O6qziYgWeW-wpFXV3WVetQurFkeBxTVdHNirH_Cq2W6q_Ce3VQax6YtOkm5BozChKZBElY-jeUaiH5vLzifM=s0-d)
Emperor Jahāngīr receiving an Officer. c.1656
paper Drawing
Height: 210 millimetres, Width: 184 millimetres
British Museum
An Indian Lady, after a Mughal Miniature, 1656
Pen and brown ink on oriental paper
79 x 72 mm
Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sOBwRoMtzCRc-el69NZcTMb5MGHH8dKMw1kqrCXRsNkJj0vY6W6FGoEiWMiDi7TY4RoEvW3YUPhUSTVGA_shw4IfJ-7GH2-Ys-eVDux9mRxYDA8n2DjYpWRT_793fqdBmFSBghABdGSiHElSu2IQOlTV_TjI7QTi8-ugTKe1q1CL--4GXp-RgEGC09sibQBTLPxWk03ot8-Wfe4B-i0hvZdC6ABHGlqkGTvnDcO-CBRglUrOZOj-xP-oQ=s0-d)
Shah Jahan, debout avec une fleur et une epee
Shah Jahan, Standing with a Flower and a Sword (1654-56)
Pen and brown ink with brown wash on Japanese paper.
The Frick Collection, New York
![A Deccani Nobleman standing, after a Mughal miniature; WL, almost in profile to l, with moustache and slight beard, his l hand leaning on a sword, his r extended. c.1656-61 Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash, with scraping out, on buff prepared Oriental paper](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_txVh5P2aZAUi57e1DAL4LWLPOj_W8ODgwBV0bBLAR-Sn7n7fx-o_YlXVCdciZEh9F8k2ERFLTjmQDY0Sb465VRwbcDZ8RWx_cskgPKP30-hdnUYyr8a7zTAlspvYdCGuz9uMxiyHDvoYp91GA=s0-d)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
A Deccani Nobleman standing; 1656-1661 (circa)
Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash
oriental paper
Height: 196 millimetres, Width: 158 millimetres
British Museum
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
A Mughal Nobleman standing, 1656-1661 (circa)
paper Drawing
Height: 184 millimetres, Width: 112 millimetres
British Museum
A Mughal Nobleman standing; after a Mughal miniature, whole-length, almost in profile to right, his right hand on the handle of a dagger in his belt. c.1656-1661
Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash, touched with red chalk (in the turban) and white heightening, on oriental paper.
Shah Jahan, Netherlands (1654-56)
Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash on Japanese paper.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Between 1656 and the early 1660s Rembrandt copied twenty-five drawings from contemporary miniatures from the Mughal Empire.
The Emperor Timur Enthroned, (1654-56)
Pen and wash in Indian ink on Japanese paper.
Musée du Louvre, Paris
These are fifteen drawings of twenty-five he made.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
The Emperor Akbar and his Son Selim in Apotheosis, Leiden 1606
pen and brown ink, brown wash, corrected with white bodycolour
212 x 174 mm
Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
These drawings echoed in his later works, in turban styles and the drape and texture of certain fabrics. These were a part of a larger movement to represent Biblical scenes as happening in a non-European world.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh, 1654-1656
Pen and brown ink and brown wash
Japanese paper
8 3/8 x 7 in.
The J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (r.1627-58) with a walking stick and his eldest and favorite son, Dara Shikoh holding a falcon. Shah Jahan is perhaps best known as the builder of the Taj Mahal, which was a tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz.
Two Mughal noblemen, 1656-1661 (circa)
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash
Height: 172 millimetres, Width: 214 millimetres
British Museum
Two Mughal noblemen; after a Mughal miniature, the man at right with a beard facing a younger, clean-shaven man, both wearing turbans and holding long swords.
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash, touched with white and with scraping-out, on oriental paper prepared with pale brown wash; traces of framing lines in pen and pale brown ink visible towards the right of the lower edge; an accidental graphite mark below right figure.
Emperor Jahāngīr receiving an Officer. c.1656
paper Drawing
Height: 210 millimetres, Width: 184 millimetres
British Museum
Emperor Jahāngīr receiving an Officer; copy after a Mughal miniature, the Emperor, with halo, seated on a divan with a sabre in his left hand, a man holding a document standing before him at left. c.1656-1661
Pen and brown ink, with brown and grey wash, touched with white, on oriental paper.
Pen and brown ink on oriental paper
79 x 72 mm
Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Shah Jahan, debout avec une fleur et une epee
Shah Jahan, Standing with a Flower and a Sword (1654-56)
Pen and brown ink with brown wash on Japanese paper.
The Frick Collection, New York
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
A Deccani Nobleman standing; 1656-1661 (circa)
Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash
oriental paper
Height: 196 millimetres, Width: 158 millimetres
British Museum
A Deccani Nobleman standing; after a Mughal miniature, whole-length, almost in profile to left, with moustache and slight beard, his left hand leaning on a sword, his right extended. c.1656-1661
Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash and scraping-out on oriental paper prepared with pale brown wash.
![Mughal, 17th century](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/78/7f/aa/787faad75baeeac26fb29302034bf0bd.jpg)
Mughal
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