0:00:13part has the power to like people nations and cultures
0:00:16historians point to centuries of instances were cultures part has influence masterpieces from entirely different
0:00:23societies
0:00:24and entreaty example of this artistic exchange can be found in the paintings and seventeen
0:00:29century indian moog all dynasty
0:00:32during then you're
0:00:33or were created in eastern cultures begin showcasing elements of images of the european renaissance
0:00:41here with me today to discuss the synthesis of eastern and western artistic languages
0:00:46is we can that if
0:00:47assistant professor of art history and a scholar of islamic art and architecture
0:00:52a first book euros and sexuality in islamic are was published in two thousand thirteen
0:00:58thank you for joining us today media
0:01:00thank you
0:01:01how artistic styles from renaissance your find their way into seventeen sentries layla card
0:01:06was this the case of are refusing to be constrained by religious about
0:01:11in late
0:01:12sixteen and early seventeen century
0:01:14there were lots of merchants from its only from port to goal
0:01:19spaniard merchants and a later on the english who came to india to create is
0:01:25kind of commercial connections with the subcontinent
0:01:29also the gesture it's came a bit later and they had three missions were trying
0:01:33to convert the mogul most alone
0:01:36emperors and upper
0:01:38class that you need and they brought with them all kinds of material culture stuff
0:01:44arc printed books
0:01:46oral paintings textiles all kinds of luxury goods
0:01:50and through these kind of fixed exchanges and interactions diplomatic all kinds of conversations that
0:01:59the court intellectual exchanges
0:02:02you start to see these the impact of these works of art
0:02:06creeping into the mogul tradition in terms of
0:02:10are refusing to stay in its own boundaries that's a very interesting question because what
0:02:14the mobile artists are during and the patrons
0:02:17they are not trying to recreate renaissance art in india they are using these e
0:02:22d ms and transforming them into
0:02:25a mogul language and looking at themselves there are not interested in europe they're interested
0:02:30in how to reflect themselves and here they got this incredible tools and materials that
0:02:35they can create another layer of meaning to their tradition
0:02:39so it's fast at heart rate was so pivotal to the convergence of these two
0:02:43cultures
0:02:44so what was the significance of the shared artistic imagery between east and west or
0:02:48in the renaissance
0:02:49did impact politics religion or philosophy
0:02:52that's a wonderful idea to think about because what we see from these images is
0:02:57the how the mogul emperors the muslim hampers are positioning themselves means of e
0:03:03europe question more specifically question europe
0:03:06and they are also by their names the titles that they give to themselves they
0:03:10are talking about themselves as universal roars and the head of universal religions and neither
0:03:17is
0:03:17so it's not so much the idea of welcoming the wettest or opening their arms
0:03:25and embracing renaissance traditions
0:03:28it's more about how they are looking and reflecting about themselves and their own image
0:03:33so
0:03:34in many ways yes politics has a lot to do with that and it's a
0:03:37very important to think about how the moguls are up playing a role in that
0:03:43world or global tradition that we're looking at in that exchange
0:03:48so these rumours truly saw themselves as universal litres
0:03:52can walk us through some examples of the use of european in madrid and techniques
0:03:55by muscle markers
0:03:56let's look at the few examples in the first image that we're looking at we
0:04:00see joined here the mobile and per
0:04:03positioned above
0:04:05an image of jesus
0:04:06and look at what you think here is holding in his hand he's holding an
0:04:10orb or the globe in his hand and he's looking gazing kind of far away
0:04:15further
0:04:16into the future well if we look at the image of jesus we see a
0:04:20very imponderable very sensitive image looking down
0:04:24and also below the emperor which is very telling
0:04:28that this is not the idea of creating question images or renaissance images
0:04:34however the mobile empire and the mobile rover is seeking himself in positioning himself in
0:04:40this kind of hierarchy and also islam as the last model theistic tradition and the
0:04:45third the seal of prophecy
0:04:48is actually playing a part here where the muslim ruler is above the question
0:04:53son of god
0:04:55the next example is fascinating in terms of the
0:04:58colours the subject matter the usage of perspective
0:05:03look at the background in which we have it is very deep recession into of
0:05:07around
0:05:08the beautiful curtain that is hanging at the background
0:05:12and also the figure the female figure with the bare breasts then the trial it
0:05:16is line the center of the composition so it has been titled by contemporary scholars
0:05:22as the madonna and child but there is nothing here that connected to the tradition
0:05:27of them i don't know other than the association off a mother and child
0:05:31and if we treat the persian poetry above and below the image
0:05:35it is talking about the beautiful silver moon phase of the female figure and her
0:05:40breast so there is and idea of a route this is a mission and exact
0:05:45this is a nation of the other if you want in this respect
0:05:48and if we look at the technique the folds what she's wearing
0:05:52the kind of volume attic
0:05:54description of the image the receding background
0:05:57these are all elements that are connected to renaissance european tradition that are introduced
0:06:02or being used by the more goal
0:06:05or it is to create a very indigenous
0:06:08tradition in mogul art
0:06:10is that a bible
0:06:11it is clear what the book it is it is an open book in you
0:06:15have the idea of book there is also a goblet with aligned there is a
0:06:19wine bottle and there is a fruit there is some kind of an animal either
0:06:23a cat or dog it's unclear
0:06:26so there in this kind of elements of pleasure
0:06:29and the idea of pleasure also they're lying on this beautiful gold incorporate that is
0:06:34shimmering and creating a very interesting affected the entire composition of kind of luxury and
0:06:40wealth and
0:06:41and really
0:06:43pastime pleasure
0:06:44so we got what is the significance of what you just described to us
0:06:48for the seventeenth century
0:06:49oftentimes callers contemporary scholars of thinking about how the moguls were interested or incorporating these
0:06:56ideas from renaissance and from europe into india and mobile ideas and what we see
0:07:03actually in the painting is that there are not interested in
0:07:06the other is there are interested about themselves and that's another layer and another aspect
0:07:11about learning about themselves
0:07:14and even you see it in the titles that the rulers are taking for themselves
0:07:18the names for example akbar
0:07:20is the greatest john here is the world com car
0:07:25and their positioning themselves as worldly there's and the heads of world religions
0:07:31so it's something about their global aspirations but within their boundaries they are not so
0:07:38much interested in what we think about today as global perspective they're global ideas are
0:07:45slightly different
0:07:46and that's something that we have to keep in mind when we're using these very
0:07:50low determines
0:07:51so when we translate what happen in the past into our model on your
0:07:56what is it the lessons that we're to draw from these paintings in our modern
0:08:00times
0:08:01i think it's really interesting to think about how cultures move or change from one
0:08:07place to another and even in today when the west is such a strong and
0:08:12powerful entity and everybody wants to wear jeans entering coca cola
0:08:17we still have to think what is it mean in other places to adopt these
0:08:21kind of values and these kind of ideas it doesn't necessarily mean that the fact
0:08:25that they look similar or somewhat similar but there they have the same kind of
0:08:29ideas in terms of the art market
0:08:32there is a thriving art market of
0:08:35indian are there is that are working
0:08:38between contemporary in combining these kind of modes between contemporary in traditional still mobile ideas
0:08:45in terms of paintings and
0:08:47there is a great market for it in the west but also a huge market
0:08:52that is growing very fast gradient the hot thing
0:08:55in india itself and that's fascinating
0:08:58and so you think some of that re translation
0:09:01of east and west something that even happens today
0:09:04absolutely
0:09:06this been an incredibly timely topic and we very much appreciate your sharing this artistic
0:09:11cross-cultural perspective and so thank you so much for coming assure surface