A non-teaser!
Some scholar from tithenai's Syria wandered into my head and dictated an essay about my real diplomatic missive between imaginary countries (on offer for con_or_bust! Where you can still bid on it! *nudgenudge*). I figured I'd share, since it's always good to shed light on important alternate-historical documents.
(ETA: picture made smaller, you can click on it for the larger small version)
On The Political Implications Of The Portrait of Hindustan's Padishah Begum
One must always ask, of images that make up a part of diplomatic communication, what they are intended to communicate; for while art may provide only beauty in some contexts, those contexts are not political.
The structure of the Padishah Begum's portrait mixes the classic Iranian composition one is most familiar with (albeit as the Mughals preserve it, imperfectly) and that of the new French Neoclassicism, emphasizing the strong vertical and diagonal lines of both. The depiction of architecture continues to avoid Europe's single perspective, but the horizon line stands low, in startling contrast to the pure style. From so clear and untraditional a nod to Europe, one might understand this painting to imply an uncomplicated desire in the Padishah Begum's court for all things European.
Hindustan is never uncomplicated, however, and if one attends to the surface detail laid over such mixed bones, one may read a rather different tale. If any European influence is seen here it is that of the Dutch Renaissance, with its lush, even sensual, textures. The detailing itself follows Mughal tradition (perhaps even harking back to its wilder, less decorous days in the Akbarnama), and offers an utter denial of the Neoclassical mode's stark simplicity. This can be no coincidence: where the underlying form most encourages us to think of the French (the Taj Mahal, the banister, the Padishah Begum's right hand recalling The Death of Marat), there we find the detailing most vibrant in its intricacy.
Moreover, while it may seem that this painting defers to European sensibilities of potraiture in the way one sees only part of the Padishah Begum, her actual pose refers back to a famous painting of her formidable grandmother, Nur Jahan, whose skill and subtlety made her de facto ruler of Hindustan in her time. Any compromises Nur Jahan made with other powers -- predominantly male-dominated, as Europe still is -- were strategic in nature, and never signaled weakening. The differences in pose between Nur Jahan's image and this of the reigning Begum -- the direct gaze, the scroll of mathematics, the clothing -- these all say to us that, if anything, the Empress of Hindustan will make fewer compromises with European powers than her grandmother might have done.
And what is it she says of us? It is notable, surely, that her pose mirrors that of Nur Jahan's famous portrait, making her seem to face West. But we see behind her the Taj Mahal, which stands on the south bank of the river Yamuna -- suggesting that in fact she faces East in the moment before Fajr, rather than West in the moment before Maghrib. Yet the prayerful right hand does not suggest one who turns away from piety; rather, the image shows the Padishah Begum facing Mecca spiritually, without threatening to look West physically.
This multiplicity of meaning may seem over-thought, but thus, in layers, do the descendants of Timur always speak.
---
(ETA: picture made smaller, you can click on it for the larger small version)
On The Political Implications Of The Portrait of Hindustan's Padishah Begum
One must always ask, of images that make up a part of diplomatic communication, what they are intended to communicate; for while art may provide only beauty in some contexts, those contexts are not political.
The structure of the Padishah Begum's portrait mixes the classic Iranian composition one is most familiar with (albeit as the Mughals preserve it, imperfectly) and that of the new French Neoclassicism, emphasizing the strong vertical and diagonal lines of both. The depiction of architecture continues to avoid Europe's single perspective, but the horizon line stands low, in startling contrast to the pure style. From so clear and untraditional a nod to Europe, one might understand this painting to imply an uncomplicated desire in the Padishah Begum's court for all things European.
Hindustan is never uncomplicated, however, and if one attends to the surface detail laid over such mixed bones, one may read a rather different tale. If any European influence is seen here it is that of the Dutch Renaissance, with its lush, even sensual, textures. The detailing itself follows Mughal tradition (perhaps even harking back to its wilder, less decorous days in the Akbarnama), and offers an utter denial of the Neoclassical mode's stark simplicity. This can be no coincidence: where the underlying form most encourages us to think of the French (the Taj Mahal, the banister, the Padishah Begum's right hand recalling The Death of Marat), there we find the detailing most vibrant in its intricacy.
Moreover, while it may seem that this painting defers to European sensibilities of potraiture in the way one sees only part of the Padishah Begum, her actual pose refers back to a famous painting of her formidable grandmother, Nur Jahan, whose skill and subtlety made her de facto ruler of Hindustan in her time. Any compromises Nur Jahan made with other powers -- predominantly male-dominated, as Europe still is -- were strategic in nature, and never signaled weakening. The differences in pose between Nur Jahan's image and this of the reigning Begum -- the direct gaze, the scroll of mathematics, the clothing -- these all say to us that, if anything, the Empress of Hindustan will make fewer compromises with European powers than her grandmother might have done.
And what is it she says of us? It is notable, surely, that her pose mirrors that of Nur Jahan's famous portrait, making her seem to face West. But we see behind her the Taj Mahal, which stands on the south bank of the river Yamuna -- suggesting that in fact she faces East in the moment before Fajr, rather than West in the moment before Maghrib. Yet the prayerful right hand does not suggest one who turns away from piety; rather, the image shows the Padishah Begum facing Mecca spiritually, without threatening to look West physically.
This multiplicity of meaning may seem over-thought, but thus, in layers, do the descendants of Timur always speak.
---