culminates in the halo around Shah Jahan. Enthroned with
Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marvar'', ca. 1638. on a pink elephant'' Bichitr's earliest works are datable to the late 1610s and early 1620s. He may have been an apprentice of
Abu'l Hasan, and his style may be considered a variant of Hasan's style. One of his earliest works is
Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings dated to c. 1615-1618. It depicts Jahangir offering a book to a bearded Sufi saint while the King of England and the
Ottoman sultan, as well as Bichitr himself stand in attendance, all spurned in favor of the holy man. The self-insertion of Bichitr later became a custom in Mughal painting. The painting exhibits European influences that Bichitr is known for. This is seen in the depiction of
putti as well as the depiction of the English and Ottoman monarchs, which are copied from paintings by
John de Critz and
Giovanni Bellini respectively. However, European perspective is deliberately rejected in the design of the flat carpet, which forms the lower background of the work. European influences are apparent in
Shah Jahan with Asaf Khan. Here,
God the father is seen in the clouds, with divine light emanating from him, reaching the halo around Shah Jahan. Within this light is a dove, which symbolizes the
holy spirit. Thus, the emperor is equated with Jesus, as the other figures of the trinity are represented. A large number of portraits in the 1630s can be attributed to Bichitr.
Stuart Cary Welch calls him "the Mughal
Van Dyke", and says that he painted almost every important figure during this period. Notable works include
Shah Shuja Enthroned with Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marvar, and
Jujhar Singh Bundela Kneels in Submission to Shah Jahan, the latter of which served as the inspiration for a sketch by
Rembrandt. While known for his formal portraits of people, Bichitr also painted animal figures, notably
Dara Shikoh on a pink elephant and ''Portrait of the Elephant 'Alam Guman''. Bichitr was also one of the artists of the famous Windsor
Padshahnama. The final works attributed with certainty to him are from the 1640s. These are the
Darbar of Aurangzeb and
Episode in a Bazaar, the latter of which is unfinished. == Style ==