Paintings of the Razmanama - Hardcover

Das, Asok Kumar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8188204501 ISBN 13: 9788188204502

Publisher: Mapin Publishing Pvt.Ltd, 2005

Synopsis

Language: English
Pages: 192 (174 Color Illustrations)


About the Book

Razmnama or The Book of War is the Persian translation of the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. The Mughal Emperor Akbar took a personal interest in the translation project and invited learned men, well-versed with the work, from all over the country to help some of his best Persian scholar-courtiers prepare the most authentic text possible. Once this was complete, master painters at his atelier produced a lavishly illustrated copy for his personal use. Akbar then invited his nobles to get copies of the text made for themselves. Out of the three copies made, the three-volume Razmnama in the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata, is the only one complete with 81 miniatures. Most of these images are full-page ones and the text bears the name of the scribe and date of completion-1605. The paintings are of great interest to students of Mughal painting as they combine the finest elements of the Mughal court style with the narrative style of storytelling. Some of the most popular Mahabharata stories were chosen by the painters and instead of composing two or three separate paintings they incorporated different stages of narrative detail within the frame of a Single image. The overall style is refined and clearly follows the court style during the closing years of Akbar's reign. The 1605 Razmnama is a key document for the study of Mughal painting during the beginning of the 17th century.

 

About the Author

Ashok Kumar Das is currently Visiting Professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is former Director of the Swai Man Singh II Museum, Jaipur and has also taught at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan as Satyajit Ray Chair. He has published extensively on di

Edition details

• Publisher: Mapin Publishing Pvt.Ltd
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8188204501
• ISBN 13: 9788188204502
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208