Mughal Flower

Mughal art broke new ground in the use and representation of the floral motif in painting. While flowers were a common motif and an integral part of design in Indian art from very early times, it was only with the emergence of the Mughal school that they became subjects of paintings, rather than embellishments, and here too, only from the start of the seventeenth century.

The first Mughal emperor Babur expresses his love for nature in the following words:

"My heart, like the bud of the red, red rose,
Lies fold within fold aflame;
Would the breath of even a myriad Springs
Blow my heart's bud to a rose? "

His fascination for flowers, especially the rose (gul in Persian) was so deep that he named his daughters Gul-chihra Begum, Gul-izar Begum, Gul-badan Begum, and Gul-rang Begum.

Mughal flower paintings are typically meticulously drawn twigs with leaves, buds, and flowers, in a variety of arrangement, flawless in depiction and fully conforming to the rules of naturalistic study without losing its essential aesthetic appeal. The background is mostly treated plain. Total focus is laid on the main subject which suggests the artist's inclination to project it in all its genuine objective form. One may note that the clustering of the leaves is composed with a deliberate purpose and design: at the base it is denser, suggestive of the plant being rooted in the soil; while in its upward growth the leaves have generally a light openness balanced by a bud, and then there is a full focus on the flowers showing different folds of petals concerting with various stages of blossoming.

The Mughal artist tends towards a naturalistic rendering of flora and fauna. An Indian element, that is, sympathy with the animal world, further gave rise to emotions and feelings in their representation. But in no way is the animal world the subject of "adoration" in their art as it is in the sculpture and painting of ancient India. Mughal painters clearly aim at the portrayal of physical reality where spiritual and emotional matters hardly had a place, in other words a scientific approach. This aspect of Mughal aesthetics obviously lends their creations a quality of earthly charm and pleasure. Grousset has rightly remarked that Mughal studies of wildlife are frank material, intended to give earthly pleasure. The Mughal artist's approach finds expression in an emphasis of objectivity in the presentation of nature. This best suits studies of specimens intended to depict maximum possible detail.