Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c21.17.2

c21.17.2

Such is the account of its first appearance in the art of India. Previous to this, however, it had begun to travel towards the west of Asia, and from there it found its way into the Byzantine art of Europe in the fifth century of the Christian era. At first it was employed somewhat timidly in Christian art, probably on account of its known pagan origin, but in the course of time this objection was overcome, so that it eventually became the accepted emblem of the Byzantine Church, to be used profusely in all its figure art. In the meantime, however, the rise of Islam in the seventh century had swept it completely out of the Nearer East, as the creed recognized no symbols except those of its own making. But the first fanatical outburst having subsided, it begins to be seen again in the illuminated manuscripts of the Abbasid rulers on the Tigris. The reason for its reappearance in this centre of the Muhammadan faith is not far to seek. Greek artists were employed by the Caliphs of Baghdad, who copied it from the pictures of Christian saints in the Byzantine illustrated books which they used as their guide. From the banks of the Tigris it wandered into the mediaeval pictorial art of Persia, even finding a place in the miniatures of the Mongols until the fourteenth century. But after this date it appears no more in the painting of Iran. It ceased to be used by the artists of Persia when that country closed its door on the West and turned to the Far East for its art.