Delhi: Red Fort. 1639-1648. Delhi Gate
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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As Ernst Kuhnel has pointed out, there was no smooth transition between the art of medieval Delhi to the epoch which woud decide the outcome of art in Islamic India from the 16th century on. New conquests from the rulers of Afghanistan brought new changes which were far from destructive and in fact brought on the flowering of the rich Indo-Islamic style in the period known as the Mogul dynasty. The Moguls were strangers to India as the Moslems had been centuries earlier and their art was totally new to the native population. They were cultured people, however, and the architectural styles show a great deal of sophistication. In fortified structures, for example, a fine feeling for rhythmical values, brought out through the suppression of ornamental details, emphasised the structural forms as they had never been known before in India. Persian ideals are greatly in evidence in the Red Palace, which is illustrated in our slide, and its Delhi Gate shows an individuality unmistakably derived from the local wood-working styles. We notice, too, that the artificial stories have not been omitted on the wall's surface, and that in this context a decidedly fort-like character of strength is communicated through its use. Some individual motifs and techniques remain strictly Indian, however, as for example the watchtower-like decoration over the gate and along the top of the enclosure walls.
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Archives Series
Basham Collection
Date created
circa 1970s
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This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.
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