Arts & Entertainment
'Portrait of a Mughal Prince' Is An Exercise in Decadence
Learn more about the artwork on display through September outside the the Berkley Public Works Department as part of the Detroit Institute of Arts' annual Inside|Out program.
A reproduction of "Portrait of a Mughal Prince" by an unknown artist is on display through September outside the Berkley Public Works Department.
It is one of five artworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts on display this summer throughout Berkley as part of the fourth annual Inside|Out program.
"Shimmering silk, translucent cotton, sparking emeralds, luminous pearls – artists working for India's Mughal rulers painted this finery in minute detail, often using brushes made with a single squirrel hair," according to the DIA. "Who was worthy of such meticulous art? A prince, possibly the son of the emperor Shah Jahan, who built India's Taj Mahal."
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The Muslim rulers of the Mughal dynasty, which had ties to Mongol emperor Genghis Khan, reigned over northern India from the early 1500s through the 1700s and were known for their efforts to integrate Hindus and Muslims into a united state, according to britannica.com.
"Indian writers have generally characterized Shah Jahān as the very ideal of a Muslim monarch," britannica.com says. "But though the splendour of the Mughal court reached its zenith under him, he also set in motion influences that finally led to the decline of the empire."
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