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A Beautiful Mughal Painting With a Dark Side
The virtues of nature over mankind
Sometimes a painting comes along that shifts the way you look at the world. It happened to me recently with this image, Squirrels in a plane tree, with its elaborate layering of tree leaves painted in the russet shades of autumn.
Since these same glowing colours are reflected in the current season where I live, it feels like there are echoes of this painting everywhere I look. Except that, in this image, the subtle array of colour tones creates a new touch of perfection.
Harmony Under Threat
The image is an invocation of the flurry of autumn’s transition. More than a dozen squirrels chase around the branches of a plane tree — otherwise known as a chinar or sycamore.
The landscape around the tree is rocky and mountainous, where wild animals and birds graze. Four wild goats occupy a glade whilst numerous species of birds swoop, perch and feed around the grass and the extended branches of the tree.
The pastel green of the grasses and the soft-hued purples of the rocks suggest a harmonious setting. Yet, despite all this, all is not peaceful in the glade.
At the foot of the tree, a man wearing a fur-lined cap prepares to climb up. What is he up to? What is he after? A drama seems to be unfolding.
On first reading, we might think this a depiction of a hunter on a search for a squirrel or two to poach. With bare feet, and using the natural nooks of the trunk as climbing holds, he begins to scale the tree. Notice the way his outer garment is tucked into his waistband, thereby creating a pouch for him to store his catch.
Non-Indian Squirrels
And yet this interpretation of the scene doesn’t quite fit with historical fact. For instance, in Persia or Mughal India squirrels were not normally hunted for either food or…
