I was at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin a while ago. It is famous for its enormous reconstructed artefacts from the Near East - the Ishtar Gate of the Babylonians, and the Market Gate of Miletus of the Romans. An even bigger treasure is the Pergamon Altar depicting the Greek myths of the war between the gods and the giants. These alone are worth the price of visit.
The large section on Islamic Art, however, is equally valuable. Series of rooms flow from one to the next, tracing the history of Muslim creativity from the earliest to the early modern. There are sculptures, friezes, paintings, furniture, vessels, mihrabs, weapons, clothes, coins, carpets. Amongst them is a series of Mughal miniatures, from Shah Jahan's time to that of the daughter of Aurangzeb, and beyond. These are part of an exhibition (until 16 October) of festivity in Indian Islamic royal art. I took pictures of them as I walked by, and here they are:
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| Shah Jahan accepting tributes from a vassal (1640-7) |
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| Kushal Khan, a noted musician of Agra (mid-17th century) |
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| Dervishes in a trance (17th century) |
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| Dara Shikoh enters Lahore Fort (17th century) |
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| Aurangzeb's daughter Shebannissa celebrating Shab-i-Barat (17th century) |
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| Noble lady with servants (1775) |
Lovely, aren't they?
1 comments:
Delightful, yes! Too bad this isn't part of the permanent collection there.
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