Emperor Jahangir, the fourth ruler of the Mughal Empire, left an indelible mark not only on the political and cultural landscape of his time but also on the realm of art. Jahangir’s deep fascination for the natural world, coupled with his scientific curiosity, led to an unmistakable naturalistic influence on Mughal Miniature painting.
The diverse schools of Miniature painting all have certain characteristics that define their distinctive styles.
Some love stories transcend the boundaries of time. They are immortalised through the memory of other people and become legends. While stories like Sohni-Mahiwal and Heer-Ranjha originated as folk tales, others, like the tale of Nala-Damayanti, find a basis in mythology.
The picturesque blue city of Jodhpur emerged as one of the most prominent centres of Rajasthani Miniature painting. A new style of court painting developed here. This school was active during the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and its style was heavily inspired by Mughal Miniature painting.
It is a well-known fact that Indian art owes its evolution to the Gupta period. A broad outlook reveals that Indian art in Central Asia had a more Graeco-Buddhist background. This is due to the multi-cultural influence of the silk trade route.
India is home to so many different forms and styles of art that there’s so much we haven’t explored yet. Today, let’s take a look at one of the oldest forms of art to ever exist: mural paintings. Mural paintings are directly connected to ancient cave paintings, and we are able to trace the evolution of Indian art over the ages by studying them.
Picture this: You’re at a lavishly decorated venue where a wedding is being held. You walk in and are dazzled by a gigantic, sprawling design created on the floor of the entrance. Flowers, glitter, acrylic paint, and other contemporary mediums are used to create semi-permanent floor decor- and this is very popular in India.
The ancient art of Thangka painting may appear beautiful even to a layman, but the cultural and religious context added to it makes it an art form worth understanding. Tibetan Thangka paintings depict Buddhist deities, catering to rigorous and exact guidelines. The elements of these paintings are mystical, fantastical, and otherworldly, which are all fitting attributes for an art that originated as a means of recording spiritual visions.
You may have heard about the Indian schools of Miniature painting. Each school had a peak and a period of decline. The quality of the paintings from different eras of the same school wasn’t consistent in the slightest. At their zenith, the schools produced beautiful masterpieces, and during their decline, the paintings showed a decrease in quality and originality. Let’s look at the famous Rajasthani Miniature paintings from different schools and find out what makes them unique.
Indian art and literature have always been interdependent. From the ancient treatise Chitrasutra dictates the themes of painting to the work of poets Keshavadas and Govindadas inspiring the miniature paintings of the Barahmasa theme. Indian folk tales and poems often served as inspiration for miniature artists, and the emotional and poetic beauty of prose and poetry came alive in portraits and paintings. Tragic love stories of forbidden love were painted through the deeds of Heer and Ranja, Sassi and Punnu, Laila and Majnu, Mirza and Sahiban, and Sohni and Mahiwal.
