Mughal India: Introduction to the Practice of Art History
ARHA 181
Fall 2012 not offered
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| Certificates: South Asia Studies |
Founded in northern India in the early 1500s, the Mughal empire was one of the largest centralized states in the history of the premodern world. During the two centuries of their effective rule over most of the Indian subcontinent, the Mughal emperors and their subordinates were prolific patrons of the arts, overseeing the production of lavishly illustrated books and picture albums and commissioning such architectural masterpieces as the Taj Mahal. This course offers an introduction not only to the art and culture of Mughal India, but also to the practice of art history itself, through a sequence of six thematic units exploring and applying different methods that are central to the discipline. Each unit begins with critical reading and discussion of one or two key theoretical or methodological statements, then continues through application to case studies drawn from Mughal India. The units include (1) techniques of visual description and formal analysis, (2) the concept of style and stylistic analysis, (3) the analysis of meaning in visual images (iconography and iconology), (4) models of time and the historical explanation of change, (5) architectural and historical analysis of buildings and their sites, and (6) historiographic assessment of debates and changing interpretations within art history. Each unit culminates in a writing exercise designed to provide students with structured experience in some of the various modes of art historical writing. The course is appropriate as an introduction both to art history and to Mughal art. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ART |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ARHA-MN)(ARHA)(ARST)(GSAS-MN)(GSAS)(MUST-MN) |
Major Readings:
Excerpts and articles are available on Moodle
Theory/Method readings:
Michael Baxandall, Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures (excerpts).
Erwin Panofsky, Studies in Iconology (excerpts)
Heinrich Wolfflin, Principles of Art History (excerpts)
George Kubler, "Towards a Reductive Theory of Visual Style" (article)
George Kubler, The Shape of Time ISBN 0300001444
Paul Frankl, Principles of Architectural History (excerpts)
Richard Krautheimer, "An Introduction to an Iconography of Medieval Architecture" (article)
Oleg Grabar, "The Iconography of Islamic Architecture" (article)
Eugene Kleinbauer, Modern Perspectives in Art History (excerpts)
Keith Jenkins, Re-thinking History (excerpts)
Readings on Mughal India:
John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire ISBN 0521566037
Milo C. Beach, The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court (excerpts)
John Seyller, "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Mughal Imperial Library" (article)
Richard Ettinghausen, "The Emperor's Choice" (article)
Catherine Asher, "A Ray from the Sun: Mughal Ideology and the Visual Construction of the Divine." (article)
Ebba Koch, "Shah Jahan and Orpheus" (excerpts)
Wheeler M. Thackston, The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India (excerpts)
Wayne Begley, "The Myth of the Taj Mahal and a New Theory of its Symbolic Meaning" (article)
Ebba Koch, "The Mughal Waterfront Garden" (article)
Percy Brown, "The Mughal Period: Aurangzebe and After" (article)
Laura Parodi, "The Bibi-ka Maqbara in Aurangabad: A Landmark of Mughal Power in the Deccan?" (article)
Additional text:
Sylvan Basnet, "A Short Gjide to Writing About Art," 10th edition ISBN 0205708250
Tim Edensor, Tourists at the Taj: Performance and Meaning at a Symbolic Site (excerpts)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Four short written assignments, two web-based or graphic assignments; mid-term. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course counts toward the South Asian Studies Certificate as a historical inquiry course. |
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