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The Natural World in Indian Painting

August 31, 1996 - May 1, 1997

Museum: Freer Gallery of Art

Location: Gallery 18

14 works on paper from India's Mughal dynasty and Rajput courts show contrasting use of nature in Islamic and Hindu art in the 15th to 19th centuries. Mughal emperors introduced the idea that a single group of animals was an appropriate subject for an entire painting. In contrast, Rajput artists continued to include animals in a painting only when they interacted with gods or humans.