What made Mughal painting

Mughal miniature painting grew in north India from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. It is known for its refined technique and its wide range of subjects.

Each emperor shaped it by his own taste. Royal ateliers (workshops) of calligraphers, painters, gilders and binders made manuscripts and albums, seen only by the royal family and court.

Artists from Iran worked side by side with Indian artists, blending Indo-Iranian styles; later, European themes joined in. So Mughal painting mixed Islamic, Hindu and European visual culture.

Compare the two traditions. Indigenous Indian painting stressed a flat perspective, strong lines, vivid colour and bold modelling. Mughal painting brought subtlety, figures that look almost three-dimensional, and a sense of optical reality (things as the eye sees them).

Favourite Mughal themes: court scenes, portraits, and accurate studies of plants and animals.