Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c21.13

c21.13

Ten years elapse after the incident here recorded before the long reign of Akbar comes to an end, and signs are not wanting that Western art never lost its attraction to this picture-loving monarch. But the brief outlines already presented of the growth of the relations between the painting of the Mughals and that of Europe are sufficient to show what was taking place. In his zeal for pictures of all kinds Akbar encouraged the introduction of European art into his dominions, and also extended his patronage to its painters. Moreover, he ordered the court artists to copy all those examples of occidental painting which came into his possession, and saw that they made use of them in their work. The pictures from the West that found their way into India seem to have impressed the Mughals, and even caused some of the more educated officials to make inquiries concerning the artists who produced them. Thus we find Abu’l Fazl displaying his newly acquired knowledge when he states that the pictures of the Indian artists ‘ may be placed at the side of the wonderful works of the European painters who have attained world-wide fame ’. It would be surprising if the result of this interest in occidental art were not reflected in the Mughal miniatures of the time, but the effect, however, although occasionally noticeable, is not strongly marked. It is observable in a certain class of painting, the handiwork of the more assimilative of the Hindu craftsmen, who seized on some of the features of European art and put them boldly into their pictures. But as a whole the painting of Akbar’s time depicts only in a modified degree the influence of the West.