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