Art Slides Part 1: Islamic India

Question 1

Answer 1

Name: Akbar the Great at Court

Date: c. 1,595

• Greater interest in realism
• Subject: History, Akbar receiving gifts and accepting visitors openly
• Realistic and descriptive details, convinving spatial relationships (European influence)
• Rich coloration/gouache technique

Question 2

Answer 2

Name: Akbar Viewing a Wild Elephant captured near Malwa in 1,564

Date: c. 1,600

Question 3

Answer 3

Name: Zebra

Artist: Mansur

Date: 1,621

Question 4

Answer 4

Name: Jahangir on an Hourglass Throne

Artist: Bichtir

Date: Early 17th Century

• Individualized portraits
• Influences of Western Art

Question 5

Answer 5

Name: The Taj Mahal

Architect: Shah Jahan

Location: Agra

Built: 1,632-1,654

• -Made for the Shah’s wife, Mumtaz Mahal
• -Based on the domed central plan of Muslim tomb-mosques and memorial shrines (like Humayun’s Tomb), and the concept of the rauza - a tomb set in a garden which replicates a heavenly paradise on earth
• -Minarets, arches, arabesque patterns and architectural caligraphy are Islamic features
• -Pietra Dura inlay technique used all over the Taj Mahal
• -Skillfully carved ornamentation represents traditional Indian craftsmanship
• -Extensive use of floral imagery reflects both an Indian interest in nature and Islamic appreciation of flowers as a symbol of paradise