The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.156

v4.c23.s4.156

The interior arrangements of the mausoleum building consist of a crypt below and a vaulted tomb-chamber above, with other rooms one in each angle all connected by corridors, light to every part being obtained by means of perforated grilles set in the arched recesses of the exterior. At a height corresponding to the parapet of the façade outside, the tomb chamber is ceiled over so that above this the whole of the interior of the great dome becomes a hollow space, a notable illustration of the system of double dome construction. As to the scheme of decoration, both inside and out, this is everywhere in keeping with the broad unity of the building and the chaste white marble of which it is composed. Certain portions are enriched with patterns carved in low relief, but the principal embellishment is obtained by arabesques of inlaid coloured stones—*pietra dura*.¹ Of the former method the square borders of inscriptions around the main archways are artistically designed and chiselled, and the dados in the interior of conventional plant-forms are modelled with exquisite feeling. But it is in the finished quality of the *pietra dura* that the inimitable patience and skill of the Indian inlayer is most plainly shown, as his share in the decorative effect ranges from the bold scrollwork in the spandrels above the great arches to the minute flowers on the cenotaphs and the perforated marble screen which encloses these. This perforated marble screen is said to have replaced a gold and jewelled railing, so that it is not part of the original design, but if a later introduction it shows that the high character of craftsmanship was maintained. The delicate carving of the marble into a grille of graceful volutes and the enrichment of each scroll with inlaid precious stones has produced a work of art of entrancing beauty, but even this is surpassed by the *pietra dura* on the cenotaphs themselves, which is cut with the fineness of a cameo. Diapers and borders of pendant flowers, sprays of foliage with lilies and other floral forms either in detached repeats or contained within curved panels, are evenly distributed over their marble surfaces. So sensitive and yet so firm is the drawing that it resembles the spirited sweep of a brush rather than the slow laborious cutting of a chisel.