Inter-pictorial Religious Discourse in Mughal Paintings: Translations and Interpretations of Marian Images

Abstract

The Mughal Emperor Akbar and his court are known for a tolerant religious policy and a general openness to the various religions of the empire. Moreover, Akbar and his son and successor, Jahangir, also cultivated an intense interest in European art, especially religious images. The article argues that in engaging with European Christian art, the painters of the Mughal court reflected on its significance as a medium of religious content and critically implemented these reflections in their own works. The Mughal artists’ reception and reinterpretation of the European Christian pictorial tradition thus represent a transreligious pictorial discourse, one that paralleled the religious debates held at the court.