Mughal school

Although painting is treated as against Islam, it spread and developed under the Mughal and a new combination of Indo-Persian style developed under them. These paintings also had Buddhist and Central Asian and Mongoloid influences. Important features of Mughal paintings are -

Use of brilliant colors            

 Accuracy in line drawing

Variety of themes                  

Details and intricacies

Ornamentation                                  

Perspective

Realism

The perspective or depth(foreshortening)was introduced by the Portuguese.

Babar did not have enough time for painting, though he patronized and supported the Persian artist Bihzad.

Humayun- got Aqa Rizaand Abdus Samad from Persia.

Akbar- Daswant, Basawan and Kesu were the most famous painters under him.

Akbar invited artists from various corners of the country and asked them to work in the Royal ‘Karkhana’. He looked upon painting as a means to study and amusement. Every week the works of the painters were brought in front of him and the best works were given awards.

Among the many manuscripts which came to be illustrated by the painters of the court were the Akbar Nama, the Razm Nama (the Persian translation of Mahabharata) and Anwar - i -'Suhaybi a book of fables.

All the three elements - Indian, Persian and to a lesser extent European were just beginning to be fused.

Bright colors were used.

Calligraphy was used.

Development of Mughal profile of three - fourth face became important and famous throughout the world.

Combined efforts by four painters to complete one painting together. One drew lines, the second one painted, the third drew borders and fourth a calligraphist wrote the script on the painting in a strip.

Different festivals and fairs have been depicted during Akbar’s time. The Portuguese introduced the concept of ‘foreshortening’ during Akbar’s time.

Jahangir- had his own workshop apart from his father’s studio. Ustad Mansoor was the most famous of his painters. Jahangir was a ‘Naturalist’ and therefore preferred pictures of animals, birds and flowers.

He himself was an artist and he could tell the name of the painters by just looking at their work. During Jahangir there was a transition from Persian decorativeness to indian characterization. This is evident in the ‘Portrait of Jahangir and Portrait of a court jester, ‘Maulana-do-Pyaza’. Mansoor’s ‘Pheasant’, ‘Zebra’, Turkey Lid ’Cock’ are most famous paintings of his time.

Sahjahan - under him, too much use of gold, silver and bright colors reduced the liveliness of the paintings. Soft and rhythmic fines are replaced by dead and harsh lines. European influence further added lifelessness to paintings. Most of the paintings are artificial and unnatural.

Aurangzeb - Being a staunch Sunni he discouraged paintings. Most of the artists migrated to regional states giving boost to Rajasthani and Pahari schools.

Rajasthani or rajput painting

It flourished under the Rajput rulers of Udaipur, Chittor, Mewar, Chavanda, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bundi. It reflected the ideas and ideologies, tastes and emotions of Rajput princes. The themes were drawn from

Hindu traditions and mythology

Courtly and feudal pride - as seen in the’ scenes of battles, riding and hunting.

A.K. Coomarswamy's ‘Rajput paintings' put this school of painting on the map of Indian and world art history This school of painting under went three phases of development -

The earliest phase - end of 16th century. During this phase the Rajput painting emanated mainly from Mewar as a regional adaptation of west Indian manuscript paintings of 15th and 16th century.These paintings are extremely simple and straight forward with dark and solid backgrounds.

The second phase - of 17th century. The paintings of this phase was much more sophisticated and poetical.

The third phase - of 17th - 18lh century. During this phase the Mughal's school influenced to the maximum extent. It was the phase of portrait paintings.

A very important factor which affected the early development of Hindu miniature was the rise of a vernacular movement.The Bhakti movement and Hindu renaissance have been depicted on these paintings.

Among the popular literary works profusely illustrated in the early Rajasthani painting styles were the Bhagavata Purana, the Geet Govinda, the Chaurapanchasika, the Rasikapriya and the Baramasas (various seasons of the year).

The paintings represents - Radha and Krishna;Nayakas and Nayikas and hunting scenes. Different colors were given different meanings:

-Red color depicts Fury.

-Yellow color depicts Marvel.

-Brown color depicts Eroticism.

They are influenced by Mughal style.           

Ragamala painting

Unique to Indian art, they communicate through lines and colors which nas traditionally been conveyed through sound. These paintings are based on the ragas. Ragas as a theme have been widely followed in miniature paintings by artists of all sects, schools and periods - pre-Mughal, Mughal, and post-Mughal. The ragamala painters followed the texts of Narada, Hariballabha, Hanuman and Mesh Karan for their artistic modalities of ragas, but their own innovations are quite different from the texts. Muslim painters ke Sahibuddin of Mewar and Ruknudding of Bikaner have shown their great skills through ragamala paintings. Such paintings are unique in the world of art. It is only in India that painting, poetry and music came together in such a _.nified and independent grouping.

Mewar school

Udaipur and Nathwada were the main centres of this school.

Chavand and Chittor were the other centres.

One of the largest ateliers in Rajasthan was to be found in Udaipur where, from the beginning of the 17th century till the end of the 19th, there has been an uninterrupted progression in miniature art.

The subjects matter were-

Religious themes based on Ramayana and Bhagwad Purana, Radha and Krishna.

Secular themes like depiction of general life, battle scenes, birds and animals and depiction of Panchatantra and Prithviraj Raso.

The paintings of this school were inferior as compared to Mughal paintings but were popular among common man.

Kishangarh

It emerged as a distinctive style in the middle of 18th century under the patronage of Maharaja Sawant Singh. Nihal Chand, a gifted artist in the Maharaja's court, produced some highly individualistic Radha and sophisticated works. The chief characteristics of the Kishengarh paintings were the elongation of human faces, lavish use of green and depiction of panoramic landscapes.

At Kishangarh there is a lake which appear in many of its paintings. Radha and Krishna are the main subjects.

Gold has been liberally used for paintings.

Mostly primary colors were used without mixing.

The face of male and female is similar.

Krishna has been painted with blue in order to identify him.

Figures are thin with narrow eyebrows and lotus petal shaped eyes.

In comparison to other paintings of Rajasthan the paintings of this school are of a larger size.

Buildings have also been painted. Nihal Singh was main painter patronized by Sawant Singh. Nihal Singh painted ‘Bani-Thani' which represents Radha.

Bikaner school

Mostly the paintings have been done on Ramayana, Mahabharata and Krishna legends. Ragmala and love scenes of Radha and Krishna have been painted.

Bagh miniature and wall paintings have been done in light colors.

In human figures lips are tight, the eyes are half open, chin is small, wrists are thin, chests are underdeveloped, mustaches are drooping.

The domes in architecture have been painted where Mughal and , Deccani influence is clearly visible.

Clouds have been painted in special circular style.

Bundi

The paintings of this school too have been influenced by the Mughal school.

They painted the local vegetation in detail.

Scenes of pleasure - loving princes, sporting with females, began to be treated like the harem scenes under Jehangir.

Vivid colors and a good deal of gold has been used in Bundi paintings.

Raga Raginis, Baramasa were painted.

Bundi paintings have influence of Mewar. Faces are round. Red, Pink and almond colors are used for shading the faces.

Banana trees have been beautifully painted.The sky has beenpainted in different colors and mostly a light ribbon of red color is visible in, the sky which is a speciality of Bundi style.

The figures are short with sharp nose and narrow eyes wearing typical Bundi hats.

Jaipur (kachchwaha)

Uses bright colors.

No shading. Less Realism.

Life size pictures of Radha and Krishna were painted depicting union of devotion and romance.

The Ghaghras of women are painted with dark colors. Men wearing loose pajamas and turbans studded with diamonds and pearls are painted.

Ornamental borders have been used like the Mughal paintings.

Birds have been painted together with nature in a rhythm.

Jodhpur

The main features of this school are:

Use of bright color.

Tall masculine figures wearing triangular and pointed caps.

Women with long hair.

Sekhawati

No other place in India has such a large concentration of high quality frescoes. This region is called the open art gallery of Rajasthan.