The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture, and Opulence
A current exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London
With Susan Stronge
The event will take place in person in the Reading Room at the British Academy, London. The event is free to attend, but booking is necessary.
The lecture will take place between 6:30-7:30PM. Doors open from 6PM.
Lecture outline:
The lecture discusses the V&A exhibition that presents for the first time the internationalist culture of Mughal Hindustan in the age of its greatest emperors, from about 1560 to 1660. Objects in all media demonstrate the refined arts of the court and the specialist crafts patronised by the elite across the empire.
The exhibition demonstrates the enormous Iranian influence which permeated the sophisticated traditions of the subcontinent to create a new distinctive style in the reign of Akbar. As Mughal art evolved, European conventions were also introduced. These derived at first from religious images brought by Jesuit missionaries, and later from pictures brought by foreign merchants and by Sir Thomas Roe, the first English ambassador to the Mughal court. The final phase of Mughal art in this ‘golden age’ was one of unprecedented harmony. Floral decoration emphasised Shah Jahan’s presentation of his empire as a Garden of Paradise under his just rule.
About the speaker:
Susan Stronge recently retired as a Senior Curator in the Asian Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum and is now an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the museum’s Research Department.
She is a leading specialist in the arts of the Mughal court in the 16th and 17th century, of Tipu Sultan’s court in the 18th century, and of 19th century Panjab under Sikh rule. She has published books, essays and articles on a wide range of subjects and was the curator of the award-winning V&A exhibitions The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms and Bejewelled Treasures. The Al Thani Collection. Her books include Painting for the Mughal Emperor, Tipu’s Tigers and Made for Mughal Emperors. She is the curator of the V&A’s current major exhibition The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence (November 9 2024-May 5 2025), and edited and contributed essays to the accompanying book.