Mughal

also: Mughal painting · Mughal art

tradition style 16th-19th century India South Asia

'Mughal' names the painting tradition of the Mughal courts of northern India, 16th to 19th century. It was born in the imperial kitabkhana (atelier): Persian masters transplanted to Akbar's court fused their fine line with Indian colour and with European naturalism drawn from imported prints. The tradition runs from the huge narrative manuscript cycles commissioned by Akbar to the natural-history albums and single-page portraits prized by Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and out to the provincial courts that kept the manner alive through the 18th and early 19th centuries. Its pages - tiny, precise, jewelled - were made for the hand and the eye alone: album (muraqqa) leaves meant to be turned, studied and treasured as objects of connoisseurship rather than hung on walls.

Folio from the Khamsa (Quintet) by Amir Khurau Dihlavi Folio from an illustarted manuscript made for Akbar the Great
Folio from the Khamsa (Quintet) by Amir Khurau Dihlavi Folio from an illustarted manuscript made for Akbar the GreatPublic domain (credit: Mukanda) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Jewel-like opaque watercolour and gold at miniature scale, made for albums
  • Meticulous naturalism: individualized faces, precisely observed birds, flowers and animals
  • Landscape backgrounds with pale skies and high horizon lines
  • Calligraphy, illumination and painting integrated on a single page
  • Courtly subjects: durbars, hunts, portraits, mystical and literary scenes

Key figures

  • Emperor Akbar (1542-1605) — Founder-patron of the imperial atelier and its great manuscript cycles
  • Emperor Jahangir (1569-1627) — Connoisseur-emperor who turned the atelier to portraiture and natural history
  • Emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666) — Patron of the tradition's most refined, jewelled courtly elegance

Example works

  • Akbarnama — Mughal imperial atelier (c. 1590s)
  • Jahangir Visiting the Ascetic Jadrup — Govardhan (c. 1616-1620)
  • Padshahnama — Mughal imperial atelier (c. 1630-1660)

Sources

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