Indian Miniatures

A Mughal-era Painting

Miniature painting began in India around the 12th century.  The earliest incarnations were manuscript illustrations of various texts -- often Buddhist or Hindu, and they were done on palm leaves.  Eventually, paper replaced palm leaves.  As time went by, Persian miniature painting began to influence the painting of Indian miniatures.  This culminated in the Mughal style of painting.  Though they were often still illustrations to manuscripts, they tended to depict the doings of royalty.  Frequently, they were PR tools that showed important events that took place during the king's reign, or depicted the king's as a mighty warrior or hunter. Scenes of court life were also frequent topics, and the small depictions were clearly designed, at least in some cases, to be realistic depictions of actual people.

It would be a mistake to brush these off as pure PR, though.  Quite a lot of great art throughout the world has been done under patronage or to flatter powerful people -- that doesn't take away from its extraordinariness.  Miniatures from the Mughal era in particular show bright colors and fine, tight rendering.

A Rajput-era Painting

Miniature painting also flourished during the Rajput era in India.  It often portrays love stories or accompanies heroic saga poems.  The colors became even more brilliant -- with the use of gold and precious stones (such as lapis lazuli) in the pigments.  Rajput miniatures, though still often used as illustrations, were also placed in albums, much like today's photo albums.

More of these "history of miniatures" posts are to come.  The opportunity to post some of these gorgeous images is just too much to pass up.