Lecture – Cracking the Code: Glimpses into the Making of a Mughal Album Folio

May 31, 2017, Menschel Hall, Harvard Art Museums

Scholars are just beginning to understand Mughal albums—elusive, eclectic, palimpsest-like assemblages of paintings and calligraphy. A close look at an early 17th-century imperial Mughal folio acquired by art collector Bernard Berenson in 1911 yields new information about how it and albums like it were made. In this lecture, scholar Laura Parodi discusses aspects of the album that offer clues to the anonymous artists who compiled such albums, giving us insight into the artists’ techniques and the shortcuts they used to work efficiently and to the full satisfaction of their patrons. What begins as a tale of two collectors—Bernard Berenson and the Mughal emperor Jahangir—turns into an intricate story with multiple voices, challenging Western assumptions about authorship.

Support for the lecture is provided by the M. Victor Leventritt Fund, which was established through the generosity of the wife, children, and friends of the late M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard Class of 1935. The purpose of the fund is to present outstanding scholars of the history and theory of art to the Harvard and Greater Boston communities.

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