Edwin Lord Weeks’s paintings bringing alive an era gone by.
By Pankaj Molekhi , Economic Times - 16 January 2011

In his book The Last Mughal, William Dalrymple recreates the marriage procession of Prince Jawan Bakht marching out of the Red Fort-with chobdars clearing the path before the imperial elephants, horse-riders guarding the flanks, attendants on pedestals waving fans and crowds on the sideways bending their heads to greet the royalty. The royal entourage marches towards the "top of Chandni Chowk, with its trees and central canal glittering in the light of the torches". So vivid and imaginative these details are that one wishes to be somehow transported back to the early nineteenth century and be a witness to the grand convoy passing by and "turning under the moonlit white marble domes of the Jama Masjid".

Wake up to 2011, and still be a part of the Mughal India of nineteenth century, courtesy Hubris Foundation and The American Center in New Delhi. The oil works of American artist and explorer Edwin Lord Weeks, who visited India in 1800, are on display at the Center, reverberating with more life than just one royal procession. In fact 'Great Mogul And His Court Returning From The Great Mosque' looks like a replica of Dalrymple's description (or is it the other way round?).

Read more :
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/backpage/edwin-lord-weekss-paintings-bringing-alive-an-era-gone-by/articleshow/7294224.cms

Image :
Great Mogul And His Court Returning From The Great Mosque At Delhi India (1892)
By Edwin Lord Weeks