THE IMAGE OF YUSUF IN MUGHAL PAINTING: ON THE ISSUE OF READING PICTORIAL TEXT
DOI: 10.23951/2312-7899-2018-2-195-204
The article is devoted to the study of the semantic, imaginative and iconographic component of the pictorial representation of the story of Yusuf in Mughal miniature painting of the 16th–17th centuries. In Muslim culture, Yusuf is a prophet and messenger in the Quran, as well as the main character of the famous poem “Yusuf and Zulaykha” of ʻAbd al-Rahman Jami. On the basis of the examples from the mughal pictorial art the author of the article consider the problem of existence in the Mughal cultural environment of the two artistic practices, the traditional visual embodiment of the image of Yusuf in the vein of Persian art and his pictorial and symbolic interpretation in the Mughal style. On the one hand, Mughal artists knew and skillfully applied iconography of the story of Yusuf which was elaborated in the Persian miniature painting. On the other hand, the conventional iconography and stylistic component could undergo certain changes in the Mughal painting. The Mughal pictorial interpretations corresponded to the refined aesthetics and philosophy of the Mughal court culture, as well as were consistent with the Mughal power ideology. Mughal miniatures with scenes from the story of Yusuf served not only as illustrations for the famous poem of Jami, but also decorated the divans of famous Indian poets and skillfully decorated Mughal albums-muraqqaʻ.
Keywords: interpretation of the pictorial narrative, Yusuf, Joseph, Mughal painting, The Great Mughals, India
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Issue: 2, 2018
Series of issue: Issue 2
Rubric: ARTICLES
Pages: 195 — 204
Downloads: 704