Illustrating Plants at the Tanjore Court
- Vol.70(2), Dec-Mar
- Mumbai Marg Publications 2018-19
- 44-51p.
Moochy artists from south India traditionally painted royal portraits and religious subjects in the miniature style for eager European patrons. At the turn of the 19th century, Raja Serfoji II of Tanjore encouraged them to adopt a “modern” hybrid style and turn to subjects of natural history. This essay aims to historically situate three albums of botanical art commissioned by the raja and bring to light a hitherto unknown agricultural manuscript predating these albums, all of which were illustrated by locals. It shows how the project of modernizing the Tanjore moochy, might be read as yet another facet of the Tanjore Enlightenment shaped up by the raja.