A Jewel of Mughal India
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At Agra (India) rises the white marble mausoleum of I'timad ud-Daulah. It is unquestionably one of the gems of seventeenth-century Mughal art. Built in the midst of a large symmetrical quadripartite garden, the mausoleum projects toward the sky its four corner towers topped by small kiosks. The external
… More »At Agra (India) rises the white marble mausoleum of I'timad ud-Daulah. It is unquestionably one of the gems of seventeenth-century Mughal art. Built in the midst of a large symmetrical quadripartite garden, the mausoleum projects toward the sky its four corner towers topped by small kiosks. The external walls are decorated with delicate incrustations of polychrome stones of different size and nature-onyx, jasper, topaz, agate or carnelian-featuring boughs, vine branches, flowers, cypress trees, vases and jugs, or reproducing endless geometrical patterns, herringbone motifs, or hexagonal stars. Even more spectacular is the mausoleum's internal ornamentation, which combines paintwork and stone inlays. Walls, ceilings and niches are decorated with mural paintings and with painted or carved stucco reliefs in a combination of vivid colours in which ochres, reds and greens predominate. Painted motifs reproduce trees of different species, vases filled with flowers and leaves, vine branches and bunches of grapes, but also bowls overflowing with fruit and trays filled with pomegranates.
« Lessthe mausoleum of I'timad ud-Daulah
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Add a CommentLooking for books on Taj Mahal, more than pretty postcards, I pulled this serendipity about a less known treasure from the same shelf. Rather than semi-precious stone fitted in marble, some walls of this many roomed mausoleum were painted with floral decorative motifs now showing their age. Because of disintegration over time, the rooms haunt with invitation to see it before it disappears. Each repeated pattern reveals subtle variations as different artists took on the commission. The work survived the artist just like the monument intended to elevate the owner into eternity now celebrates the architects and artists employed to make it possible. The text gets under the surface on its own merit and brings out fascinating discoveries on the site.