Festivities Portrayed in Islamic Art
Celebrations at the Indian Court

15.07.2011 to 06.11.2011

Pergamonmuseum

Court painters, active at various courts across India, filled their pictures with radiant colours, life-like depictions of contemporary life and the detailed portrayal of items of jewellery, fabrics and animals. Besides depicting official reception ceremonies and religious festivals, their images also give us a glimpse behind the scenes of private gatherings that took place at court.

Expressly commissioned by the rulers themselves and bound together in beautiful albums, these pictures grant us an insight into the multifaceted and, in part, decadent life of the court of the Mughals and neighbouring regional rulers.

In the current series of exhibitions on book art, the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum for Islamic Art), housed within the Pergamon Museum, is displaying a selection of miniature paintings from the Mughal era (mid 16 c. to mid 18 c.) on the theme of 'Festivities Portrayed in Islamic Art. Celebrations at the Indian Court'. Awaiting visitors on their tour through the festive realms of the Indo-Islamic world are emperors, seen either on their resplendent thrones or atop their processional elephants, richly adorned princesses and musicians playing exotic instruments.