Mughal India exhibition at the British Library

I went to see the Mughal India exhibition at the British Library.

Although there are other objects in the show the most impressive artifacts are the illuminated manuscripts, which are exquisite.

Princes of the house of Timur:  Timur and the twelve princes (divan-ed, be-parasoled, gilded and floreated) are carefully positioned on a white platform, under a duck-egg blue sky, bounded by a band of green foliage and white daisies.  The necks of the princes are loped with pearls, they hold hawks and other symbols of status, only their faces show any individuality from the rigid formality of court protocol.  The stillness of the composition was palpable.

Nawab Khalilallah Khan:  positioned between two arching oleanders the figure of the Nawab seems as delicate as the nerium bushes, as if a slight zephyr would blow the whole scene away.

The Flower Garden of Sa'di: the young beggar, infatuated by the young prince, watches his beloved play polo - the thoroughbred horses, the thoroughbred men, the emphatic gasping calligraphy (I thought this sort of love was outlawed in Iran?).

http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/mughalindia/index.html