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The Mughal School oM inia tuPai nti g 41 seen in profile. However, three–fourth faces are also shown. The rich intricate patterns on the floor, columns and canopy are from Persian sources as also the four-limbed animals and rocks. Trees and creepers indicate Indian source as also the rich palette of pure yellows, reds and browns. Akbar envisioned cultural integration and commissioned translation of several revered Hindu texts. He commissioned translation and illustration of revered Sanskrit texts into Persian. The Persian translation and illustrated version of the Hindu epic Mahabharata done this period came to be known as Razm Nama. This was completed in 1589 under the supervision of master artist Daswant. This manuscript was scribed in ornate calligraphy and contained 169 paintings. The translation and illustration of the Ramayana were also carried out around this time. Artists like Govardhan and Miskin were celebrated for their visuals of court scenes. Akbar Nama, an extraordinary manuscript, containing a detailed account of Akbar’s political and personal life, was one of the most expensive projects undertaken by Akbar. Akbarpersonallyengagedwiththeartists,andsupervisedand evaluated the artworks. The Mughal painting under Akbar’s patronage depicted a variety of subjects, including, detailed political conquests, seminal court scenes, secular texts, portraits of important men along with Hindu mythologies, and Persian and Islamic themes. Akbar’s fascination for Indian scriptures and regard for India made him one of the most popular emperors of the country. In most of the paintings, produced from the time that the Europeans were in contact with the court of Akbar, we can see an increasing preference for a category of naturalism adapted to compliment the growing diversity in medieval India. Madonna and Child (1580) done in opaque watercolour on paper is an important early work of the Mughal School of Painting in this context. Madonna, here, is an extraordinary theme, which brings the Byzantine art, the European classical and its Renaissance to the Mughal atelier, where it is translated and transformed into an entirely different visual experience. Virgin Mary is draped in a classical manner. The attachment displayed between the mother and the child was inspired by the humanist interpretation in the European Renaissance art. The physiology of the child, certain details like the fan and jewellery completely integrated the work to an Indian  milieu. Reprint 2026-27