Muhammad `Ali

( fl c. 1600-10). Persian painter, active in India. He has been identified from three inscribed works bearing his name: a Seated Poet (Boston, MA, Mus. F.A.), a Seated Youth (Washington, DC, Freer) and the drawing of A Girl in the Binney Collection (San Diego, CA, Mus. A.). The latter, signed Muhammad `Ali Jahangir Shahi with the presumed regnal date 5 (AD 1610-11), shows that he worked for the Mughal emperor Jahangir (reg 1605-27) early in his reign. The painting of a Young Prince Riding (Geneva, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan priv. col.) has also been attributed to him. This is close in style to the painting in the Freer Gallery of Art, and the two share a competent but bland indebtedness to the work of FARRUKH BEG. The equestrian portrait of Ibrahim `Adil Shah II, attributed to Muhammad `Ali by S. C. Welch, is now known to be a signed work of Farrukh Beg. Muhammad `Ali's small oeuvre, technical skill and dependence on another's artistic personality suggest that he was primarily an illuminator, namely the Muhammad `Ali Muzahhib of Shiraz whose portrait was drawn by Reza `Abbasi in AH 1020 (AD 1611-12) following his return from India.

See the Abbreviations for further details.