The cultural encounter of Europe in India has been of some fascination to many students of the subject. European engravings brought to India in the sixteenth century by the Jesuits to help communicate Christian doctrines to Mughals are well documented. Prints of non-religious subjects also found their way into Mughal possession, a subject that has been explored to a far lesser extent.

This spontaneous fusion of cultures and techniques created a new genre starting with early Mughal painting where artists synthesized aspects of European prints to create a nuanced east-west expression in their artistic exploration. Akbar’s Mirat Ul Quds, the Mughal interpretation of imagery from the bible, is a sublime example of the hybrid religious genre. On the nonreligious side, we see further examples in various museums and collections.

Asian art week in London gave me the opportunity to engage with a stunning album page of the nonreligious Euro-Mughal type. Painted in the 1650s, likely by a master, the works sit in a luscious album page painted in the 1730s. It was part of an album belonging to Lord Hastings, the Governor General of India.

We do not know who the sitter though it is from a Flemish print of the period. The inner border or the Jidwal is also reminiscent of other Jahangir period paintings. The minimal colour palette of the painting— siah qalam with gold-the combination of pink and indigo in the jidwal is just enough to showcase the finely rendered figure. It is the finesse of the Mughal artist who created such a delicate balance between the exquisitely detailed figure and the opulent yet understated border.