‘IMPERIAL MUGHAL ALBUMS’ ON VIEW AT ARTHUR M. SACKLER GALLERY

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery presents the exhibition, “MURAQQA: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin,” on view through August 3.

Among the most noteworthy of Mughal paintings and calligraphies are those commissioned by the Emperors Jahangir (ruled 1605–27) and Shah Jahan (ruled 1627–58) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the world-views of the emperors, these fine images depicts the emperors and the imperial family in a relaxed private settings with Sufi saints and mystics, allies and courtiers and natural history subjects.

Many folios are full-page paintings with figural borders; others are collages of European, Persian, and Mughal works collected by the emperors. Produced by the atelier’s leading artists, they reveal the conceptual and artistic sophistication of the arts of the book at its apex in the early Seventeenth Century.

The exhibition brings together 82 masterpieces, many not previously exhibited in the United States, from the renowned collection of the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is at 1050 Independence Avenue, SW, on the National Mall. For more information, www.asia.si.edu or 202-633-1000.