The Brush of Insight

Yael Rice, Rice

ISBN 10: 0295751096 / ISBN 13: 9780295751092

Published by University of Washington Press, US, 2023

About this Item

Sheds light on the art and artists that gave material form to Mughal imperial visionOver the course of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Mughal court painters evolved from illustrators of manuscripts and albums to active mediators of imperial visionary experience, cultivating their patrons' earthly and spiritual authority. Featuring over 80 color illustrations, The Brush of Insight traces this shift, demonstrating how royal artists created a new visual economy that featured highly naturalistic royal portraits and depictions of the emperors' dreams. These images, in turn, shaped the perception of the Mughal emperors' preeminence in all domains-temporal and spiritual-from the reign of Akbar to that of his son and successor, Jahangir. In analyzing a wide range of visual materials including manuscripts, albums, and coins, art historian Yael Rice documents how manuscript painters and paintings challenged the status of writing as the primary medium for the transmission of knowledge and experience. With compelling material and original arguments, The Brush of Insight probes how pictures and illustrated books became central to imperial modes of seeing and being in early modern Mughal South Asia.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780295751092

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Brush of Insight
• Publisher: University of Washington Press, US
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0295751096
• ISBN 13: 9780295751092
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 953 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Sheds light on the art and artists that gave material form to Mughal imperial vision

Over the course of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Mughal court painters evolved from illustrators of manuscripts and albums to active mediators of imperial visionary experience, cultivating their patrons’ earthly and spiritual authority. Featuring over 80 color illustrations, The Brush of Insight traces this shift, demonstrating how royal artists created a new visual economy that featured highly naturalistic royal portraits and depictions of the emperors’ dreams. These images, in turn, shaped the perception of the Mughal emperors’ preeminence in all domains―temporal and spiritual―from the reign of Akbar to that of his son and successor, Jahangir. In analyzing a wide range of visual materials including manuscripts, albums, and coins, art historian Yael Rice documents how manuscript painters and paintings challenged the status of writing as the primary medium for the transmission of knowledge and experience. With compelling material and original arguments, The Brush of Insight probes how pictures and illustrated books became central to imperial modes of seeing and being in early modern Mughal South Asia.

About the Author

Yael Rice is associate professor of the history of art and Asian languages and civilizations at Amherst College.