MUGHAL PAINTING

also spelled Mogul, style of painting, confined mainly to book illustration and the production of individual miniatures, that evolved in India during the reigns of the Mughal emperors (16th18th century). In its initial phases it showed some indebtedness to the Safavid school of Persian painting but rapidly moved away from Persian ideals. Probably the earliest example of Mughal painting is the illustrated folktale Tuti-nameh (Tales of a Parrot) at the Cleveland (Ohio) Museum of Art. Mughal painting was essentially a court art; it developed under the patronage of the ruling Mughal emperors and began to decline when the rulers lost interest. The subjects treated were generally secular, consisting of illustrations to historical works and Persian and Indian literature, portraits of the emperor and his court, studies of natural life, and genre scenes. The school had its beginnings during the reign of the emperor Humayun (153040 and 155556), who invited two Persian artists, Mir Sayyid 'Ali and Khwaja 'Abd-us-Samad, to join him in India. The earliest and most important undertaking of the school was a series of large miniatures of the Dastan-e Amir Hamzeh, undertaken during the reign of Akbar (15561605), which, when completed, numbered some 1,400 illustrations of an unusually large size (22 by 28 inches [56 by 71 cm]). Of the 200 or so that have survived, the largest number are in the Austrian Museum of Applied Art in Vienna. Though retaining the upright format, general setting, and flat aerial perspective of Persian painting, the Indian artists of Akbar's court exhibited an increasing naturalism and detailed observation of the world around them. Akbar's fondness for history resulted in his commissioning of such dynamic illustrated histories as the Akbar-nameh in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. An empathy for animals is evident in the illustrations of the animal fables, particularly the Kalilah wa Dimnah and the Anwar-e Suhayli. Other outstanding series are the illustrations of the Razm-nameh (the Persian name for the Hindu epic the Mahabharata) in the City Palace Museum, Jaipur, and the Divan of Hafez in the Reza Library, Rampur. Outstanding painters of the period were Dasvant and Basavan. Less emphasis was given to book illustration during the period of Jahangir (160527). Instead, Jahangir preferred court scenes, portraits, and animal studies, which were assembled in albums, many of them with richly decorated margins. The style shows technical advancement in the fine brushwork; the compositions are less crowded, colours are more subdued, and movement is much less dynamic. The artist of the Jahangir period exhibited a sensitive understanding of human nature and an interest in the psychological subtleties of portraiture. Noted painters of the period were Abu al-Hasan, called the wonder of the age; Bishandas, praised for his portraiture; and Ustad Mansur, who excelled in animal studies. The elegance and richness of the Jahangir period style continued during the reign of Shah Jahan (162858) but with an increasing tendency to become cold and rigid. Genre scenessuch as musical parties, lovers on a terrace, or ascetics gathered around a firebecame frequent, and the trend continued in the reign of Aurangzeb (16581707). Despite a brief revival during the reign of Muhammad Shah (171948), Mughal painting continued to decline, and creative activity ceased during the reign of Shah 'Alam II (17591806). The technique of Mughal painting, in the initial phases, often involved a team of artists, one determining the composition, a second doing the actual colouring, and perhaps a specialist in portraiture working on individual faces.