Detail: Among the most remarkable of Mughal paintings and calligraphies are those commissioned by the Emperors Jahangir (1605-27)and Shah Jahan (1627-58) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the world-views of the emperors, these exquisite images depict the emperors, the imperial family in relaxed private settings, Sufi saints and mystics, allies and courtiers, and natural history subjects. Many folios are full-page paintings with superb figural borders, other are collages of European, Persian, and Mughal works collected by the emperors. Produced by the atelier's leading artists, they reveal the conceptual and artistic sophistication of the arts of the book at its apex in the early seventeenth century.
The exhibition brings together 86 masterpieces—many not previously exhibited in the United States—from the renowned collection of the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.