Madonna, Christ and Mughal Paintings
December 15, 2015 2:59 AM Subscribe
The paintings commissioned by Akbar and Jahangir were a blend of Western iconography with Indian and Islamic elements.
In September 1579, Akbar sent an ambassador to Goa:
” I am sending Abdullah, my ambassador, and Dominic Perez (an Armenian Christian, the interpreter) with the request that you will send me two learned Fathers and the books of Law, especially the Gospel, that I may know the Law and its excellence…”
This began a close relationship between the Mughals and the Jesuits. This closeness was reflected in art and culture too. It is fascinating to notice the Indian and Persian influence on the paintings and features of the Madonna and Christ.
Me neither... stumbled on it via Willam Dalrymple's twitter feed actually, the timeline feels like context collapse across centuries and cultures
posted by infini at 3:23 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by infini at 3:23 AM on December 15, 2015
I love this. Nice find.
My Mughal empire for hi res versions of these images, though. Especially this one.
posted by NoMich at 4:45 AM on December 15, 2015
My Mughal empire for hi res versions of these images, though. Especially this one.
posted by NoMich at 4:45 AM on December 15, 2015
stumbled on it via Willam Dalrymple's twitter feed
Coincidentally, Dalrymple's twitter feed recently led me down a similar rabbit hole but from the opposite side, as in British art during the Raj, particularly of the Company style. The discussion of influences in Zayn al-Din's work in the Impey album (in the first Guardian link) was particularly interesting.
posted by vanar sena at 4:58 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Coincidentally, Dalrymple's twitter feed recently led me down a similar rabbit hole but from the opposite side, as in British art during the Raj, particularly of the Company style. The discussion of influences in Zayn al-Din's work in the Impey album (in the first Guardian link) was particularly interesting.
posted by vanar sena at 4:58 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Dear Vanar bhai, previously ;p Only two days old so still open for comments and links!
posted by infini at 5:40 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by infini at 5:40 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
These are fantastic, thanks for posting this.
Akbar is a really interesting figure for his religious policy. At some point in his reign, he built a meeting hall where members of different faiths could come and debate and discuss religious matters, which eventually evolved into him promoting a syncretistic religion of his own devising, primarily drawn from elements of the Islam and Hinduism, but incorporating something from other religions as well. If I'm remembering correctly, it had many elements of a ruler cult.
*The professor in question actually suggested that at some point Akbar stopped using the phrase "Allahu Akbar" on currency to mean "God is great," but rather to mean "Akbar is god" which is probably going a bit far, but did elicit a shocked gasp from two Muslim students that I found amusing at the time.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:45 AM on December 15, 2015
Akbar is a really interesting figure for his religious policy. At some point in his reign, he built a meeting hall where members of different faiths could come and debate and discuss religious matters, which eventually evolved into him promoting a syncretistic religion of his own devising, primarily drawn from elements of the Islam and Hinduism, but incorporating something from other religions as well. If I'm remembering correctly, it had many elements of a ruler cult.
*The professor in question actually suggested that at some point Akbar stopped using the phrase "Allahu Akbar" on currency to mean "God is great," but rather to mean "Akbar is god" which is probably going a bit far, but did elicit a shocked gasp from two Muslim students that I found amusing at the time.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:45 AM on December 15, 2015
Dear Vanar bhai, previously ;p Only two days old so still open for comments and links!
This is what happens when I post links on metafilter. I should know better by now, grumble grumble.
posted by vanar sena at 6:11 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is what happens when I post links on metafilter. I should know better by now, grumble grumble.
posted by vanar sena at 6:11 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I will memail you the next one for your first refusal.
posted by infini at 6:12 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by infini at 6:12 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Awesome. I particularly like this one because the Holy Family is clearly depicted as not being European, which is what we are used to seeing in most cases.
I always said to myself that if I were an artist my portfolio would include icon mashups where Christ is depicted as being of a different race, just to make people slightly uncomforable and question their feelings.
I have to admit though that I was also thinking about whether this art was created as a result of European colonialism (i didn't read the article - just looked at the pics).
It would totally be interesting to see how other religious icons would be depicted in the European-style art we are used to. How would Michaelangelo have depicted Buddha, or Raphael --> Vishnu?
posted by bitteroldman at 6:50 AM on December 15, 2015
I always said to myself that if I were an artist my portfolio would include icon mashups where Christ is depicted as being of a different race, just to make people slightly uncomforable and question their feelings.
I have to admit though that I was also thinking about whether this art was created as a result of European colonialism (i didn't read the article - just looked at the pics).
It would totally be interesting to see how other religious icons would be depicted in the European-style art we are used to. How would Michaelangelo have depicted Buddha, or Raphael --> Vishnu?
posted by bitteroldman at 6:50 AM on December 15, 2015
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I had no idea about the existence of these until today.
posted by benoliver999 at 3:17 AM on December 15, 2015