"The golden age of the Mughal empire comprised the reigns of three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Their land, which they called Hindustan, was a conquered one; their language was Persian; they employed Hindu and Muslim artists and commissioned books and paintings with themes drawn from these varied traditions, and from Europe. This complex cultural framework produced some of the finest court paintings ever seen in the Subcontinent." "In Painting for the Mughal Emperor Susan Stronge provides a detailed survey of the Victoria and Albert Museum's renowned collection of the period, tracing the place of individual works in the Mughal tradition of arts of the book." "The collection includes pictures from the first major project of the new Mughal studio, the epic adventures of the Muslim hero Hamza: dramatic battles and episodes from the life of the emperor Akbar from the famous Akbarnama; and a remarkable series of portraits of the emperors, the sons, and leading members of the court from the early 17th century. Certain portraits and studies of wildlife by masters such as Mansur and Manahar were preserved in albums for Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and both rulers marked their ownership by writing occasional comments on the pages, while Shah Jahan's artists added exquisite floral borders, in themselves masterpieces of the at of decoration. A rich and sophisticated culture is mirrored in these paintings and explored in the accompanying text; the result is a book of both scholarship and beauty."--Jacket.
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