Bhai Gian Singh (1883 to 1953), naqqdsh or frescopainter, was born in the city of Amritsar in 1883. His father, Taba Singh, a combmaker by profession, supplemented his meagre income by dispensing dyurvedic medicines in his spare time. At the age of five, Gian Singh was sent to school run by Giani Thakur Singh, who later rose into prominence as a Sikh missionary and scholar. Giani Thakur Singh's influence on him was everlasting. After he had passed his primary school, Gian Singh was apprenticed to Nihal Singh Naqqash, a third generation descendant of Bhai Kchar Singh Naqqash, who enjoyed court patronage under Maharaja Ranjil Singh. Gian Singh served his apprenticeship for 14 long years until the death of his mentor in 1905. He brought to his passion for drawing unusual powers of observation