Ali Mansour ruled a small Rajput kingdom in an isolated corner of Rajasthan and continued to do so after he made a deal with the British Raj to fall in line with their policies and intentions. In return for his cooperation he was left alone to live as he lived before in splendid and indeed luxurious isolation. He built himself a palace in the lake where he would stay in the summer months to escape the heat when he was not in in his other Summer Palace high up on a nearby mountain. As he grew older the luxurious lifestyle began to take it's toll as he retreated ever more into a drugged torpor of indulgence and satiation. As he grew weaker in strength and power his eldest son who was appalled by his father's indolence and fealty to the Raj overthrew his father in a night time attack and had him incarcerated in the fort that overlooked the lake where his father spent the remainder of his days forever looking out to his floating palace haunted by the memories of what once was.
Well, that's what they say or did I hear that story in a dream...
This will be the painting for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on 28 July after the painting that was originally intended for it, "Al Madina Mashriq" sold virtually before the paint was dry when I posted it.
The setting is Mughal India but I have taken the liberty of having an Egyptian felucca in the foreground (all my Orientalist paintings are after all, fantasy) and decided to have an early morning light for a change after a number of recent nocturnes. It is based on a yellow/violet colour complementary and wanted a quiet, hushed atmosphere as the boat quietly approaches the palace in the morning mist. It is based on a memory of when I went to Udaipur in 1989 where there is indeed a palace in the middle of the lake although now it is a hotel.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".
There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting including the colours I used in previous posts on this blog.
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