Artistic Developments
In the age before photography, television and the Internet,
paintings had an important role. Portraits acted as family
albums, whilst other pictures served as public broadcasts,
visual diaries and newsflashes.
Looking at the paintings produced by the Mughals unlocks
much of their history and lifestyle.
Art is not static, meaning that it does not always stay the
same, but often responds to external pressures which can
motivate change in design. Some factors that can cause
changes are:

The influence of other artists

A patron’s taste

A society’s religious convictions

Developments in materials
Artistic influence
In western art, Picasso was influenced by African masks.
The Constructivists’ conviction that art should imitate the
forms of modern technology affected their style of work.
Mughal art responded to similar pressures and changes.
Developments in art materials
Even something as simple as the invention of the tube of
paint, meant that artists were able to work directly from
nature for the first time. Before, they had had to grind
pigments and work paint in bowls or shells in small
quantities – an expensive, highly skilled, cumbersome and
studio-bound process. With tubes of paints, the French
Expressionists could walk on to a hillside, sit down and
paint. The immediacy of this meant that they could quickly
capture the shifting light, or the movement in trees,
giving pictures a more ‘alive’ look than had been
previously managed.
Toulouse-Lautrec used the new invention of photography to
help him capture lines and movement in his painting. If you
look at some of his pictures you may appreciate this fact.
Ancient Civilizations –
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Ancient Civilizations –
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A patron’s taste
Akbar’s personality and his attitude to his reign as
Emperor, filtered into his patronage of the arts. Akbar was
keen to bring the diverse elements of his Empire together
and so was tolerant of other religions. Akbar’s religious
broadmindedness is directly reflected in the paintings and
illustrated manuscripts he commissioned.
Many Mughal paintings act as illustrations to Akbar’s
biography, the Akbarnama. Akbar loved outdoor pursuits such
as hunting and falconry, and his active lifestyle is
reflected in vibrant and energetic scenes.
A society’s religious convictions
Akbar insisted that important Hindu religious works should
be translated in to Persian and illustrated. These
manuscripts included the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the
Harivamsha. Akbar’s tolerance of other religions earned him
loyalty and popularity with his diverse subjects, even if
did infuriate the Ulema, the strict Muslim theologians and
lawyers of his day.
Ancient Civilizations –
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