Over the last twenty years, Ebba Koch has researched and analysed the transmission of artistic ideas over space and time and their significance. An internationally acknowledged expert on Mughal architecture, her effort has always been to use art history’s own methods as a basis for her investigations. Her work is thus characterized by a thorough analysis of the form of the artwork, which is then evaluated against information from written sources. The eleven studies in this book offer a fresh and unique interpretation of Mughal art and architecture and its heterogeneous sources-Central Asian Timurid, Indian, Persian, and European- fused creatively to express an imperial ideology of universal aspirations. The author shows that for Mughal patrons and artists the formal concern was not I’art pour l’art but the appeal to the senses conveyed an ambitious intellectual and political message. This is particularly true for the art and architecture created by Shah Jahan. The palaces and their decoration at Agra, Delhi, and Lahore, the imperial gardens, the urban designs, and the famous masterpieces of the Emperor’s patronage, the Taj Mahal, and the Windsor Castle Padshahnama all emerge, from the discussion in a new light, as careful constructions of form and meaning. The volume, illustrated by 235 black and white illustrations, including newly measured drawings of Mughal buildings, will be an indispensable source for anyone interested in the Mughals. The book will interest not just scholars and students of art and architectural history but also students of general history, sociology, culture, literature, and religion.
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