Miniature paintings, of Shah Jahan

These are two richly illuminated miniature paintings from India, which date to the early 19th century. They show, on the right, the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1627-58) among his courtiers, reviewing, on the left, a procession of musicians and elephants.

The composition of these two scenes of imperial ambience is derived directly from 17th-century Moghul painting. Although executed in minute detail, the miniatures, probably executed in Delhi, no longer have the genial vitality and subtlety of colour of their earlier models. Like the paintings, the margins are painstakingly-worked archaisms, brightly coloured and generously gilded.

With the gradual decline of the Moghul court and, eventually, the effective establishment of British rule in the early 19th century, trained painters in Delhi and elsewhere in India turned to producing meticulous reproductions for European customers.

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