|
HOME :
Asian Art :
Indian Manuscripts : Mughal Empire Narrative Manuscript / Painting
|
 |
|
|
|
Mughal Empire Narrative Manuscript / Painting - MA.201
Origin: India
Circa: 17
th
Century AD
to 19
th
Century AD
Collection: Narrative Manuscripts
Style: Mughal Period
Condition: Very Fine
£5,000.00
Location: Great Britain
|
|
|
| Photo Gallery |
|
|
| Description |
Mughal painting is a particular style of South Asian
painting confined to miniatures either as book
illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums
(muraqqa). It emerged from Persian miniature
painting (itself partly of Chinese origin), and
developed largely in the court of the Mughal Empire
of the 16th to 18th centuries. The Mughal emperors
were Muslims and they are credited with
consolidating Islam in South Asia, and spreading
Muslim (and particularly Persian) arts and culture as
well as the faith.[1]
Mughal painting immediately took a much greater
interest in realistic portraiture than was typical of
Persian miniatures. Animals and plants were the main
subject of many miniatures for albums, and were
more realistically depicted. Although many classic
works of Persian literature continued to be illustrated,
as well as Indian works, the taste of the Mughal
emperors for writing memoirs or diaries, begun by
Babur, provided some of the most lavishly decorated
texts, such as the Padshahnama genre of official
histories. Subjects are rich in variety and include
portraits, events and scenes from court life, wild life
and hunting scenes, and illustrations of battles. The
Persian tradition of richly decorated borders framing
the central image was continued, as was a modified
form of the Persian convention of an elevated
viewpoint.
The Mughal painting style later spread to other Indian
courts, both Muslim and Hindu, and later Sikh, and
was often used to depict Hindu subjects. This was
mostly in northern India. It developed many regional
styles in these courts, tending to become bolder but
less refined. These are often described as "post-
Mughal", "sub-Mughal" or "provincial Mughal". The
mingling of foreign Persian and indigenous Indian
elements was a continuation of the patronisation of
other aspects of foreign culture as initiated by the
earlier Turko-Afghan Delhi Sultanate, and the
introduction of it into the subcontinent by various
Central Asian Turkish dynasties, such as the
Ghaznavids.
- (MA.201)
|
| |
|
