Expressing the Inexpressible 2
In my previous post I looked at an historical genre of Persianate manuscript paintings of the Night Journey or Isra and Mi’raj of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him). Most of these… Continue reading
Category Archive: manuscript painting
1 Comment
Nautilus Spiral Print
Some years ago, an inspired private collector commissioned me to do this painting. Its image online has since become very popular, with many requests for prints – so, I have finally decided to… Continue reading
Expressing the Inexpressible 1
The painting above expresses a profoundly sacred event that took place during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) – the ultimate revelation. In the year 621 CE. Muhammad was… Continue reading
Siyah-Qalam – An Unusual Literary Commission
Here is a commission I undertook earlier this year for writer Shekhar Das. It is an illustration for a work on which he is currently engaged. This extraordinary vision comes from a chapter… Continue reading
Dream Girls, with Indian and Persian roots.
Inspired by Rajput Master Bannu, I painted this lavish vision in the early 2000s. My style and spheres of interest have changed since that time, because being an artist is a journey. But… Continue reading
My Story: Learning Painting from a Rajput Master
Back in the 1990s, I had the privilege of being able to watch and learn from an hereditary master painter in Jaipur. The late Ved Pal Sharma, known as Bannu, was unique, in… Continue reading
Exhibiting Manuscripts for a Prince of the Black Sheep at Oxford
I have curated a display of 15th century illuminated manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, which will be open free to the public until the 13th January 2018. It is called “Making Manuscripts… Continue reading
Manuscript Illumination: learning from a 15th Century Shirazi master
ne of In a recent post I have guest-authored for the British Library Asian and African Studies Blog I was invited to write about some of the library’s manuscripts that I have found… Continue reading
Preparing Shell Gold
Originally posted on The Book & Paper Gathering:
A guest post by Anita Chowdry My last few workshops on shell gold have been particularly rewarding as my participants have all been up for…
British Library Seminar with Barbara Brend
Painting and Illumination in Persian and Mughal Books: An exclusive look at Manuscripts in the British Library with Dr Barbara Brend 4 June 2015, 10.00 am – 5.30 pm Cost: £135 Sold Out… Continue reading
Precious Pigments and Gold with staff from the Bodleian Library
I had the privilege of hosting at my studio a small group of staff who take care of precious historical manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. They came to examine and… Continue reading
More than the Colour Red at Visions of Enchantment, Cambridge University
On the 17th March I gave a paper called More than the Colour Red: The unspoken symbolism of cinnabar pigment in Indian painting at a fascinating conference hosted at the University of Cambridge,… Continue reading
Strange Creatures in the Margins
As I briefly mentioned the art of marginal design as one of the arts of Islamic manuscript production in my previous post, I thought I would share a few details from a very… Continue reading
Preserving treasures in Cairo’s National Library and Archives
Update 23 Feb 2014: Thankfully the conservation staff at the National Library and Archives and the team at Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation have managed to save all the manuscripts that were on display, though… Continue reading
A Mughal Masterpiece at The British Museum
This painting is called “The assembled animals complain to the raven of their mistreatment at the hands of man” British Museum catalogue number 1920.0917.05 , an illustration to one of the animal fables… Continue reading
Workshop – Pigments for Manuscript painting
Barbara Brend’s seminar on painting and illumination in Persian and Indian books on 1 November 2011 was followed by workshops about pigments and techniques at my studio. The picture above shows some of… Continue reading