Scène érotique dans les jardins d'un palais

India, Murshidabad, circa 1800 Gouache on album page depicting the embrace of two lovers on a white floral carpet. Around them, a vast garden planted with fruit trees and cypresses. In the background, an imposing palace overlooks a lake lined with architectural elements. On the reverse, a romantic robaï' poetic quatrain "nasta'liq" on a floral background. Size: 27 x 17.5 cm While the foreground of this miniature is charming, the treatment of the architecture in the background is very interesting. We recognize the rounded roofs of the Galta temple (dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman, built in the 18th century), the minaret of Delhi's Qûtb Minar (built between 1192 and 1368), and the Jal Mahal palace in Jaipur (built in 1699 in the middle of a lake, renovated and enlarged in the 18th century by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Amber). The painter chose to depict places emblematic of Hindu and Muslim spirituality. Provenance: Former British private collection; acquired from an American private collection. An erotic embrace with the Galta temple, the Qûtb Minâr and the Jal Mahal palace in the background, Murshidabad, North India, circa 1800.