A Talk on ‘How to Read a Mughal Painting’ by Ashwitha Jayakumar

ABOUT THE TALK
Mughal miniature paintings are dense works of art whose details convey much about the minds, manners and morals of the elite members of the court who commissioned them. In this scavenger-hunt-style session, students will closely ‘read’ Mughal miniatures, identifying how these paintings reflect the personalities of their patrons (and sometimes the artists who produced them), and help shape how the Mughals are remembered. The session will also briefly trace the development of a distinctive artistic style that combined Indian, Persian and European influences, reflecting both the cosmopolitanism and the syncretism of the courtly culture within which they were produced.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ashwitha Jayakumar is the author of The Book of Emperors: An Illustrated History of the Mughals (Penguin Random House) and Incredible Indians: 75 People Who Shaped Modern India (HarperCollins India). She’s worn many different hats in her fifteen years as a professional, from editor to high school teacher and research consultant, and she is also the co-founder of Indian Summer Press, a brand new independent publisher of comics and illustrated books.

Ashwitha is passionate about making history both engaging and accessible to a wide audience. To that end, she has conducted online talks, workshops, and heritage walks for both children and adults, all aimed at encouraging a critical and thoughtful approach to history. Ashwitha holds an MSc in Literature and Society: 1688–1900 from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds.