Govardhan

Govardhan (fl. 1595–1640) was a Mughal era Indian painter of the Mughal school of painting. His father Bhavani Das, had been a minor painter in the imperial workshop. Like many other Mughal painters, they were Hindus. He joined the imperial service during the reign of Akbar and he continued his work till the reign of Shah Jahan. The examples of his work that are still extant show that he was fond of rich, sensuous colour and softly modelled forms.

Govardhan was one of the illustrators of the Baburnama currently located in the British Museum, London. The Jahangir celebrating the festival of Ab-Pashi (1615), presently kept in the Raza Library in Rampur, India is one of his significant creations. His portraits contained in the Jahangir albums are presently in the collections of various American and European museums. He depicted the different human physiques of the Indians with much accuracy. An excellent portrait of him was prepared by one of his contemporary painters, Daulat.

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