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Unfolding the History of Mughal Painting: Merging

Traditions and Imperial Taste

 

Demons in a rugged landscape. India, ca.

1600s. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.21.4 x 12.5 cm. © The San Diego Museum of 

 Art.

 

Imperial Mughal painting represents one of the most celebrated art

forms of India. It arose with r emarkable rapidity in the mid-sixteenth

century as a blending of three distinct t raditions: 1) court painting of 

Safavid Iran, 2) indigenous Indian devotional manuscript illumination,

and 3) Indo-Persian or Sultanate painting, which is itself a hybrid of 

provincial Persian and local Indian styles. Examples of these

sources are featured in the previous two sections of the gallery, while

the fourth section is devoted to paintings of the early imperial Mughalatelier as it developed into maturity from 1556 to 1650. The result of 

this merging—paintings of unprecedented vitality, brilliant coloration,

and impossibly precise detail—is something dramatically more than

the sum of its parts.

The convergence of three distinct painting traditions into a unified

harmonious style occurred as a result of bizarre twists of historical

fate. When the second Mughal emperor, Humayun (1507¬–1556),

was abruptly deposed by an Afghan rebel, he sought political asy lum

at the court of the Shah of Iran. The Shah, who had just undergone a

conversion to a s trict form of Islam, lost interest in figural painting

and dismissed the painters of his renowned atelier. Humayun, a

lover of the arts, took advantage of the situation and hired some of 

the Shah’s recently unemployed painters, most notably Mir Sayyid Ali, and returned with them to India. Not six months after he

success fully regained his throne in Delhi, Humayun fell down the

stairs of his library and died.

His son Akbar, who would become one of the greatest monarchs

ever to rule India, suddenly found himself emperor at the age of 

fourteen. He loved lavishly illustrated tales of action, adventure, and

intrigue, and he recruited about a hundred local Indian artists to join

the imperial atelier under the direction of the seven court painters

from Iran. The joint product ions of the Indian and Iranian artists ,

shaped by Akbar’s own penchant for realism, are remarkable works

in a new distinctive style, full of unprecedented vitality.

The young emperor Akbar expanded his atelier to include local Indianpainters, many of whom belonged to families who had been trained in

manuscript illumination for generations. Their patrons would primarily

have been pious Jains, Buddhists, or Hindus who commissioned

copies of sacred texts for the sake of generating religious merit. The

bold colors—especially the primary red background—and flat,

styl ized forms with wiry contour lines and abstract shapes

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7/27/2019 The History of Mughal Painting

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10/17/13 The History of Mughal Painting

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characterize these pre-Akbari Indian paintings and combine to impart

a sense of otherworldly energy and devotional fervor. This gallery

presents a complete view of the history of Mughal painting—from

what is likely the atelier’s first production under Akbar through to the

final genealogical productions of the Empire in its dying days of the

nineteenth century.

 

The Ascension ofJesus in theGuise of a

Priest. India, ca. From 1602 to 1605. Opaque

watercolor on paper. 16.5 x 8 cm. © The San

Diego Museum of Art .

 

Designs on Each Other: Indian Paintings and European Prints

India has been openly receiving and adapting images and ideas from

the West for millennia, and the Mughal period was no exception.

 Artists and patrons in India would select scenes and motifs from

European sources and transform them for their own use. At the

Mughal court, especially during the reigns of emperors Akbar 

(reigned 1556–1605), Jahangir (reigned 1605–28), and Muhammad

Shah (reigned 1719–48), European engravings brought to India by

Jesuit miss ionaries inspired Indian artists to produce a large number 

of paintings of Christian and other European subjects. Far from

serving as the tools for conversion to Christianity that the

missionaries had hoped, the Mughal artists recast them intomystical interpretations of passages from Muslim literature on the life

of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Old Testament prophets. In other 

instances, the Indian paintings were more occidentalizing, as Mughal

patrons took a keen interest in what appeared to them as exotic

European people and objects with which they came into contact.

 

Conversely, Mughal paintings made their way to Europe, and by the

early 18th century they served as sources for printmakers who

produced illustrations for books about India. For European

printmakers, especially those in France and the Netherlands, these

works of art from India were sources that provided a sense of 

authenticity to their orientalizing works. The printmakers selectively

adopted images of emperors and warriors from Indian paintings that

created, perpetuated, and disseminated stereotypes or expectedimages of faraway India. This section explores the ways that Indian

painters and European printmakers from the 16th to 19th centuries

looked at and adapted one another’s works for their own purposes.

 

Bahadur Shah II in Darbar. India, ca. 1837.

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. 20.1 x 

14 cm.

© The San Diego Museum of Art 

 

The Family Line: Imperial Genealogical Painting

In 1739, the Mughal court of Muhammad Shah was sacked by Nadir 

Shah, a Turkic leader from Iran. The imperial treasury was plundered.

The royal library and the paintings it housed were destroyed or 

dispersed. With imperial resources depleted, the emperor could no

longer maintain the large atelier of painters, many of whom left to find

employment under increasingly independent tributary kingdoms and

among the families of British East India Company personnel.

The painting that continued at the Mughal court was not on the grand

scale of prior generations. It also took a decidedly nostalgic turn.

Instead of illustrations of vibrant stories, religious texts, and scientific

treatises, late Mughal emperors increasingly ordered illust rated

genealogies of their imperial lineage. These books exalted the royal

might, sophisticated culture, and lavish wealth of prior Mughal

emperors and their courts in the face of diminishing influence. In a

sense, these paintings were attempts to reclaim that past glory by

linking a weaker later emperor, such as Bahadur Shah II, to his

magnificent ancestors Akbar, Humayun, and Timur. At the same

time, court scenes and royal portraits were also prevalent and served

a similar function. Despite this artist ic effort, throughout this period

British power and influence grew in advance of the official

establishment of colonial Raj control in 1858, bringing the Mughal

Empire to an end.

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10/17/13 The History of Mughal Painting

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Imperial Mughal painting represents one of the most celebrated art forms of India. It arose with remarkable rapidity in

the mid-sixteenth century as a blending of three distinct traditions: 1) court painting of Safavid Iran, 2) indigenous

Indian devotional manuscript illumination, and 3) Indo-Persian or Sultanate painting, which is itself a hybrid of provincial Persian and local Indian styles. Examples of these sources are featured in the previous two sect ions of the

gallery, while the fourth section is devoted to paintings of the early imperial Mughal atelier as it developed into

maturity from 1556 to 1650. The result of this merging—paintings of unprecedented vitali ty, bril liant coloration, and

impossibly precise detail—is something dramatically more than the sum of its parts.

The convergence of three distinct painting traditions into a unified harmonious style occurred as a result of bizarre

twists of historical fate. When the second Mughal emperor, Humayun (1507¬–1556), was abruptly deposed by an

 Afghan rebel, he sought political asylum at the court of the Shah of Iran. The Shah, who had just undergone a

conversion to a strict form of Islam, lost interest in figural painting and dismissed the painters of his renowned atelier.

Humayun, a lover of the arts, took advantage of the situation and hired some of the Shah’s recently unemployed

painters, most notably Mir Sayyid Al i, and returned with them to India. Not six months after he successfully regained

his throne in Delhi, Humayun fell down the stairs of his library and died.

His son Akbar, who would become one of the greatest monarchs ever to rule India, suddenly found himself emperor atthe age of fourteen. He loved lavishly illustrated tales of action, adventure, and intrigue, and he recruited about a

hundred local Indian artists to join the imperial atelier under the direction of the seven court painters from Iran. The

 joint productions of the Indian and Iranian artists, shaped by Akbar’s own penchant for realism, are remarkable works

in a new distinctive style, full of unprecedented vitality.

The young emperor Akbar expanded his atelier to include local Indian painters, many of whom belonged to families

who had been trained in manuscript illumination for generations. Their patrons would primarily have been pious Jains,

Buddhists, or Hindus who commissioned copies of sacred texts for the sake of generating religious merit. The bold

colors—especially the primary red background—and flat, sty lized forms with wiry contour lines and abstract shapes

characterize these pre-Akbari Indian paintings and combine to impart a sense of otherworldly energy and devotional

fervor. This gallery presents a complete view of the history of Mughal painting—from what is likely the atelier’s first

production under Akbar through to the final genealogical productions of the Empire in its dying days of the nineteenth

century.

Designs on Each Other: Indian Paintings and European Prints

India has been openly receiving and adapting images and ideas from the West for millennia, and the Mughal period

was no exception. Artists and patrons in India would select scenes and motifs from European sources and transform

them for their own use. At the Mughal court, especially during the reigns of emperors Akbar (reigned 1556–1605),

Jahangir (reigned 1605–28), and Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719–48), European engravings brought to India by Jesuit

missionaries inspired Indian artists to produce a large number of paintings of Christian and other European subjects.

Far from serving as the tools for conversion to Christianity that the missionaries had hoped, the Mughal artists recast

them into mys tical interpretations of passages from Muslim literature on the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Old

Testament prophets. In other instances, the Indian paintings were more occidentalizing, as Mughal patrons took a

keen interest in what appeared to them as exotic European people and objects with which they came into contact.

 

Conversely, Mughal paintings made their way to Europe, and by the early 18th century they served as sources for printmakers who produced illust rations for books about India. For European printmakers, especially those in France

and the Netherlands, these works of art from India were sources that provided a sense of authenticity to their 

orientalizing works. The printmakers selectively adopted images of emperors and warriors from Indian paintings that

created, perpetuated, and disseminated stereotypes or expected images of faraway India. This section explores the

ways that Indian painters and European printmakers from the 16th to 19th centuries looked at and adapted one

another’s works for their own purposes.

The Family Line: Imperial Genealogical Painting

In 1739, the Mughal court of Muhammad Shah was sacked by Nadir Shah, a Turkic leader from Iran. The imperial

treasury was plundered. The royal library and the paintings it housed were destroyed or dispersed. With imperial

resources depleted, the emperor could no longer maintain the large atelier of painters, many of whom left to find

employment under increasingly independent tributary kingdoms and among the families of British East India Companypersonnel.

The painting that continued at the Mughal court was not on the grand scale of prior generations. It also took a

decidedly nostalgic turn. Instead of illustrations of vibrant stories, religious texts, and scientific treatises, late Mughal

emperors increasingly ordered illustrated genealogies of their imperial lineage. These books exalted the royal might,

7/27/2019 The History of Mughal Painting

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-history-of-mughal-painting 4/4

10/17/13 The History of Mughal Painting

visionesdelaindia.inah.gob.mx/index.php/en/the-history-of-mughal-painting 4/4

sophisticated culture, and lavish wealth of prior Mughal emperors and their courts in the face of diminishing influence.

In a sense, these paintings were attempts to reclaim that past glory by linking a weaker later emperor, such as

Bahadur Shah II, to his magnificent ancestors Akbar, Humayun, and Timur. At the same time, court scenes and royal

portraits were also prevalent and served a similar function. Despite this artistic effort, throughout this period British

power and influence grew in advance of the official establishment of colonial Raj control in 1858, bringing the Mughal

Empire to an end.

 

Last Updated on Friday, 14 June 2013 22:23