Painting The Mughal Experience

"Portraiture, the depiction of nature, and the illustration of margins in manuscripts - considered significant facets of Mughal painting - are looked at closely. Technical skills, motifs, and the symbolism so characteristic of this period are also discussed extensively. This volume also analyses the influence of European Renaissance art on Mughal painting." "Enriched by the historian's craft this book is significant for the wide appeal it commands - it will not only interest serious scholars of Mughal history and cultural studies, but also art historians, connoisseurs of art, and those interested in the development of painting in South Asia."--Jacket.

Illustrations: Numerous B/w & Colour Illustrations Description: The present work is based on an extensive and critical study of the original Mughal paintings supported by contemporary historical literature and provides fresh perspective for the interpretation and analysis of the painter's art under the Mughals. After a brief discussion on painting in Islam the author goes on to expound the nature and role of pre-Mughal indigenous traditions in the making of Mughal style. Thereafter, the study turns towards the origin and development of Mughal painting from Humayun to Aurangzeb. Finally, the various influences--Persian, Chinese and European--have been examined. The author concludes that Mughal painting reflecte a non-mechanical fusion of the different cultures of Asia and Europe. It had never been a colonial expression of Persian painting. Despite the presence of a number of elements borrowed from foreign sources, it remained truly Indian from the very beginning. This richly illustrated volume carries finest treasures of Mughal court paintings.

A unique blend of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles, Mughal painting reached its golden age during the reigns of the emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan in the 16th and 17th centuries. This gloriously illustrated book is the first to examine the Victoria and Albert Museum's remarkable collection of Mughal paintings, one of the finest in the world. Richly detailed battle scenes, scenes of court life, and lively depictions of the hunt were commissioned by the royal courts, along with a remarkable series of portraits, studies of wildlife, and decorative borders. The authoritative text contains much new research, and the beautifully reproduced color illustrations give this stunning volume wide appeal.

An invaluable reference work, this catalogue offers the first critical documentation of the 300-odd miniature painters who worked in the Mughal style over the period 1550-1707, spanning the reigns of the Mughal emperors Humayun to Aurangzeb. Biographical sketches precede each entry, which is listed alphabetically. A unique feature is the scholarly transliteration and translation of all Persian inscriptions on the paintings on the basis of which attributions have been made, sometimes mistakenly. The catalogue is preceded by an introduction which gives the social, historical, and artistic context within which the painters worked.

Present collection of essays researched and analyzed by S.P. Verma, since 1973, provides the readers an introduction to the Mughal painting. The sixteen studies in this volume offer afresh interpretation of the Mughal miniatures. These relate to the aesthetic values, art-forms, signs and symbols, and the social and cultural history. Most importantly, Akbar`s attempt to liberale painting from the straitjacket of sectarian ideology is the theme of Chapter 1.2. The `artists signatures` (Chapter 1.4) and `self-portraits` (Chapter 3.4) are the new features introduced with the rise of Mughal school. The volume draws on diverse textual sources to delve into the social history of dominant themes, motifs and styles. Verma presents a vivid account of the sixteenth century narrative art (Chapter 2.1), and major illustrated manuscripts (Chapters 2.2-3.4, and 7). Chapter 1.1 provides insights into the life and times of patrons and artists. Verma also touches parallel art tradilions. His approach to the subject features the Mughal painting as an historical source.

This volume depicts the life and times of the Mughal emperor Jahangir in the light of his memoirs, Jahangirnama, popularly known as Tuzuk-i Jahangiri. With its fresh treatment of source material and a vivid account of historical events, the book tells the history of Jahangir’s India through his intimate and confessional memoirs incorporated in the genre of Mughal manuscript painting. The work is noteworthy for its historical portraits as well as Jahangir’s visual realism, his remarkable knowledge of natural history, and the perceptive and detailed descriptions of the world around him. Moving away from conventional historical writing, the book is a psychological study of an individual, his innate qualities, behavioural moves and instinctive affinities. Jahangir’s memoirs reveal deeper facets of him as a person as well as a poet, aesthete, connoisseur of painting and a keen observer of nature, both human and that of the natural world. The author also includes other contemporary literature of the period that narrate Jahangir’s life, such as Akbarnama, Ma’asir-i Jahangiri, Iqbalnama-i Jahangiri, Intikhab-i Jahangiri, Tatimma-i Waqi’at-i Jahangiri and Zakhirat-ul Khwanin, as well as Jesuits accounts and travelogues. He further analyses the influence of European Renaissance art on the history of Mughal paintings. A first of its kind, this book will greatly interest scholars and researchers of medieval history, Indian history, Mughal history, art history, popular culture and South Asian studies, as well as the general reader.