Five large Company School architectural studies of the pietra dura work in the interior of the Taj Mahal

Agra, circa 1815-20

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Footnotes

The subjects of the paintings are as follows. The captions in nasta'liq are in Persian with a few words in Urdu.

A. The decoration on the base of Shah Jahan's cenotaph, numbered 16 (490 x 425 mm.)
in gol-e chabutra-ye divar-e shah jahan turbat-e bala, 'This flower is (on) the platform of the wall of Shah Jahan's upper tomb'.
English: Upon the side of the basement of the king's cenotaph above.

B. On the railing surrounding the cenotaphs, numbered 3 (415 x 625 mm.)
in gol bar pahlu-ye mahjar be-rukh-e birun, 'This flower is on the outer face of railing'.
English: Upon the inside of one of the panels which separate the divisions of the marble railing that surrounds the cenotaph, above; Another flower on the outside of the railing.

C. On the inside of the marble screen, numbered 15 (450 x 375 mm.)
in gol-e andarun-e mahjar, 'This is the flower of the inner railing'
English: Upon the inside of the Marble Skreen [sic].

D. On Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph (277 x 500 mm.)
in belha bar mazar-e bala-ye beygum sahib, 'These vines are on the top of the tomb of Beygum Sahib'.
English: Borders of Flowers upon the Queen's Cenotaph above.

E. On the top of the railing surrounding the cenotaphs, numbered 19 (360 x 630 mm.)
in gol va jali be-rukh-e birun-e mahjar , 'This flower and lattice are on the outer face of railing'.
English: Upon the outside of the top of the railing.


'In the 19th Century the quality of the inlay work on both sets of cenotaphs and the screen in the Taj Mahal was thought to surpass all the other decoration of the building. Paintings of the cenotaphs and the screen were commissioned from Indian artists who worked for the British. While the artists adapted their style to conform with European taste, they retained the clarity and refined draughtsmanship of Indian painting and interpreted the subjects before them with great accuracy' (quoted from S. Vernoit, Occidentalism: Islamic Art in the 19th Century, Khalili Collection, London 1997, p. 204, no. 156 (a painting of the pietra dura work on the top of the cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal).