Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c15.20.1

c15.20.1

The young emperor was not only interested in the painting of his own artists, but his aesthetic activities were manifested in another direction, one which reacted almost immediately, and with a beneficial effect, on the productions of the rising school. He was a connoisseur and a keen collector of historical paintings. On no occasion, therefore, was an opportunity lost of acquiring illuminated manuscripts and rare old miniatures from those regions where these classical articles had been originally executed. He dispatched agents to negotiate for them, and embassies were instructed to include them among the treasures they brought back from the courts of other kings. When these missions returned, and presented themselves at the hall of audience, before any other business was begun, the emperor in his eagerness would first examine all ‘the beautiful and costly things’ that they had brought, and specially dilate on the pictures or manuscripts, expressing his gratitude for that ‘destiny which gave such rare things into his hands’. Descriptions of a few of these objects of art have been preserved, and although meagre in their details, they are sufficient to give some idea of the royal connoisseur’s taste, and the artistic quality of these articles generally. There were four miniatures of the School of Bihzad, dated A. D. 1499, which Jahangir is recorded to have valued at fifteen hundred rupees.