HUNTING PAINTINGS & SCENES

A number of masterpieces emerged from the imperial atelier set up by the greatest of the Mughal rulers, Akbar. Under his patronage, the predominant influences of the day became consolidated into the style that is featured in our exclusive Mughal paintings section. A highly naturalistic depth (European), spatial recession (Islamic), and a beauteous lifelike appeal (Hindu) fused together to give birth to the famous miniatures of the day, a level of which has been reproduced and curated in this subsection. There are three different levels of miniature art as defined by scholars. Subimperial paintings are the ones commissioned by the Mughal nobility in an effort to imitate the aesthetic inclinations of the imperial family. Popular paintings were intended for the provincial wealthy and non-Muslims, and were further removed from the fusion Mughal style given the bright colours employed and the erosion of naturalism. Finally, bazaar paintings were the mass-produced counterparts of the aforementioned, relatively elite levels that were sold in markets in Agra and Delhi. It is from the third and bottom rung that the paintings in this section have been included.

Hunting is a universally imperial pastime, to the delights of which the Mughal monarchs were not immune. When the first-generation Mughal rulers had invaded India and discovered the bounty offered by the evergreen forests of North India, they quickly took to hunting in the challenging wilderness. These bazaar paintings depict the monarchs and members of the nobility in the midst of their hunting expeditions, putting all their skill and courage to the chase of the powerful boar and tigers or the almost-invincible falcons and eagles roaming the skies. The colours are fit for the naturalistic inclination of Mughal paintings of the bazaar level. As such a pick from the collection curated here would add to your space the singular charm of the imperial.