[MINIATURE PAHARI] Hunting scene with the falcon. [India, first half of the eighteenth century]. Large and refined miniature depicting a noble Moghul on horseback during a falconry joke, accompanied by a waiter. The composition, articulated on several floors, develops within a vast hilly and marshy landscape: trees and stains of vegetation mark the heights illuminated by the light of dawn, while herons and other birds populate the mirrors of water; in the distance there is a minute urban settlement. At the center of the scene the falconer, entirely dressed in white, rides a bay with rich finishes and holds on the gloved arm the raptor, while the attendant leads a second falcons. On the right a raptor is caught in the act of harnessing a bird in flight, dynamic fulcrum of the composition. The falconry, a practice deeply rooted in the Islamic aristocratic culture and particularly appreciated at the Moghul court, became a recurring subject of Indian painting, in which the representation of the venatory exercise joins the exaltation of the rank and life of court. The miniature, dating back to the first half of the 18th century, has characteristics attributable to the painting of northern India, with possible influences Pahari; more cautious appears, in the absence of further elements, the attribution to the school of Murshidabad. Miniature on paper (440 × 320 mm) within triple polychrome border decorated with naturalistic and stylized floral motifs; mounted on cardboard decorated by modular red flowers on golden background, with additional outer border with flowers and leaves. Excellent state of preservation, minimum defects. (1)