Picture Details
The Taj Mahal
Partner:
British LibraryImage reference:
BL.Or.2157.f.612Origin:
North, IndiaArtist / Date:
Unknown, c.1830Size:
395 x 245 mmDescription:
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This painting is from a later manuscript of a history of Shah Jahan (ruled 1628-1658) written by Muhammad Salih Kanbu, an important calligrapher during his reign. The painting shows the Taj Mahal in a lush vista filled with water, trees and flower beds, in a late Mughal-style which incorporates European perspective. British officers can be seen on its platform. The text is an account of the dimensions of the dome of the Taj. The garden, `jannat' in Arabic and `firdaus' in Persian, is a metaphor for paradise in Islamic philosophy and art. The Taj, on the banks of the Yamuna near Agra, is set on a high marble plinth in the centre of a walled garden in the char-bagh or four-plot plan. It is reflected in a broad water channel with marble fountains running on the north-south axis, paved pathways further divide the garden plots.
