Palace garden in a river landscape
Late Mughal, Oudh, ca. 1785
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Stemming from Central Asia the Islamic Mughal Dynasty
(1526-1858) is among the longest-living and most powerful
dynasties of India. By the 17th century, the dynasty’s
reign already spanned across virtually the entire Indian
Subcontinent. This period gave birth to some of the
Islamic world’s most beautiful gardens.
The Mughal’s fondness of civilized nature is reflected
not only in their gardens and palaces but rather in almost
all of their arts. This exhibition presents 170
masterworks of royal workshops: silver-inlaid metalwork,
jades, glasswork and crystals, filigree ivory carvings,
precious jewelry and colorful textiles all document both
the various ways of portraying botanical motifs as well as
a certain sensibility reaching out to like-minded souls.
The exhibition is culled from significant German
private collections and three of the Collections of the
State Museums of Berlin. This marks the first time that
the public is offered such an exquisite and plentiful
selection of Berlin’s Indo-Islamic and rajput art
treasures in a single comprehensive exhibition.
Detail from the River side view of the Taj Mahal
North India, Agra, ca. 1800
Opaque watercolour on cloth
A high degree of naturalism is characteristic of Mughal
art. This is especially apparent in delicate miniatures
which represent a high point in Islamic painting. Even
with this genre, gardens are ever-present. However, in the
17th century, such motifs merely serve as background
scenery: for courtly ceremonies, genre scenes, often with
amorous details, and especially for portraits.
By the 18th century the garden finally receives more
attention as an artistic subject itself. Paintings from
this period portray precise representations of famous
gardens. In particular, Emperor Shah Jahan’s (reign: 1628-
1658) monument for his favorite wife, the Taj Mahal, the
most famous of so-called garden monuments, elicited
extraordinary fascination from painters of the 18th
century. A special interest in architecture is reflected
in the artistic approach to this subject matter: Painters
concentrated on architectural and decorative details,
created central perspective views or simply portrayed the
layout of the garden. The first comprehensive series of
architectural and garden depictions were commissioned and
the Museum für Indische Kunst possesses one of the most
famous examples of such art. With such paintings and
exceptional large-scale representations of the Taj Mahal
on textiles, the subject of Indo-Islamic gardens comes
full circle. These are the prototypes of the “Pleasure
Gardens and Garden Tombs” of the Mughal period.
pictures by Iris Papadopoulos
Hair dressing scene
Mughal style, ca. 1700
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Emperor Farrukhsiyar
Mughal style, ca. 1715
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Portrait of a Princess
Rajasthan, Jaipur, Mughal style, mid 18th century
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Big Pendant
North India (Jaipur?), ca. 1800, obverse
Gold, diamonds, rubies, enamel
Big Pendant
North India (Jaipur?), ca. 1800, reverse
Gold, diamonds, rubies, enamel