Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c21.26

c21.26

So far we have dealt only with those features which have been extracted almost bodily from the art of the occident and given a place in the Mughal miniature. As distinct from these, however, there are the less obvious signs of European influence, such as the increase in the use of shadows, the employment of scientific linear and aerial perspective, and a different treatment of the landscape, all of which may be discerned in the later painting of the Mughals. Plates LXVI and LXVII, of pictures executed some time early in the second half of the seventeenth century, will explain what was taking place. The former depicts a young prince with his attendants conversing with a priest, who from his appearance may be a Jain; the background to the group is clearly inspired by a painting of a European landscape. While this portion of the picture may have been copied from a scene in the vicinity of an Indian city, for Christian churches were being built in several parts of the country at this time, the manner in which the artist has obtained his effect is occidental. Two painters have been employed on it, one of whom has been responsible for the figures, and another has added the background. At one time the class of work produced by the latter was sufficiently popular to give rise to a special name for this form of backgrounding, which became known as *dūr-numā* or ‘distant scene’. Similar remarks apply to Plate LXVII, which shows a young priest expounding the Qur’an to another, while in front are two disciples. The landscape might have been copied from a picture of the school of Georgione. A miniature of considerable interest but of a still later date, having been painted at Patna in Bihar towards the middle of the nineteenth century, is illustrated on Plate LXVIII. The subject is somewhat of an enigma; and the inscriptions written by a Muhammadan, while the painting is the work of a Hindu, throw little additional light. It depicts three figures, one of whom may be a European priest, while the others are Indian devotees or saints. They are seen conversing under a tree in a locality which has been identified as near Patna, because the hill called Mathni is in the background. In front of the hill the artist has introduced the few crude appliances for distilling spirits, and a bottle and a cup are shown in the foreground. Its artistic charm lies in its rich liquid colouring, reminiscent of a French enamel of the sixteenth century.