Deeply influenced by a diverse mix of cultural, regional, and artistic traditions, the Mughal school of painting remains one of the richest and most productive schools in the history of Indian and Islamic painting. Its corpus assimilates traits from various art schools that flourished in the Indian subcontinent with Persian and Central Asian traditions, as well as that of European Renaissance art, especially humanism. It constitutes the most extensive source of visual reconstruction of the life, work, and manners of Mughal society, thus presenting a wealth of information on the period. The paintings also depict non-Islamic mythological and religious themes and portray wildlife amidst naturalistic surroundings.
In this short introduction the author provides a detailed survey of paintings created in ateliers under the patronage of the Mughal emperors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Showcasing works from renowned collections, this book highlights the aesthetic and intellectual facets of Mughal painting, and serves the purpose of a basic reference on the subject.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Som Prakash Verma
Professor Som Prakash Verma (b.1942), an art historian, at present at the Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, has written two books and has also contributed to scholarly and art journals. His art and Material Culture in the Paintings of Akbar's Court published in 1978 may rightly be said to be the first authentic treatment of art as a source of history by an Indian scholar. His volume, Mughal Painters and Their Work- A Biographical Survey and Comprehensive Catalogue, has been published in 1994 by the Oxford University Press, New Delhi. This is a very important work of reference, indispensable for students of Mughal painting. He has edited Art and Culture (Felicitation Volume in Honour of Professor S. Nurul Hasan) jointly with Professor Ahsan Jan Qaisar (1993); and is the Guest-Editor of the Marg Volume: Flora and Fauna in Mughal Art (forthcoming). Professor Verma is a practicing artist as well. He is the recipient of two prestigious awards by the Indian Academy of Fine Arts, Amritsar (1981) and the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta (1982); and his paintings are known in the art galleries, government and private art collections in India and abroad. The exhibitions of historical miniatures (reproductions) prepared by him: (1) Everyday Life and Work in Mughal India (1984), (2) Medieval Technology-Illustrations from Indian Art (1984), (3) Wild Life in Mughal Painting (1985), (4) Medieval Indian Architecture (1986), and (5) The Life of Akbar as Illustrated in Contemporary Miniatures (1992) provide invaluable data on Indian society, culture, art, architecture and technology. At present these are lodged in the Seminar Library, Department of History (AMU). In 1986-7, Professor Verma worked at the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Washington, D.C. as a Fulbright Fellow.
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