A page from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, one of the most magnificent and fully-realized illustrated manuscripts in the tradition. Made in the workshops of the Iranian Savafids, contemporaries of the Mughals.
A portrait of Malik Amber, taken as a child from Ethiopia and raised in Yemen, rose to the prime ministership of a major sultanate in the Deccan - he was a major thorn in the side of Mughal emperor Jahangir because of his effective use of guerrilla tactics to evade conquest.
The painting traditions weren't only sponsored by Muslim empires, but also regional courts, such as those in the Pahari hills in the north of India, from where arose Nainsukh, a court painter for a minor raja known for his delicate lines and flat spaces. The man on the left is the raja himself, subdued by the divinity of Radha and Krishna.
I know the religious art influence from europe is explored in this but it is really striking how much it reminds me of a byzantine christian icon.
The simple full-body centering of the single figure, the use of color, the unnatural but symbolism-heavy pose. I don't know much about art honestly but something about the light also seems that way. Later catholic and I think russian? style icons became more realistic and don't have that look.
The halo too but that's less interesting to me than the feel of the whole thing which is very icon-like.
Back in the early 90's I did 12 art history documentaries in a Ken Burns style very much like this article. The documentaries were still images with hot spots for navigation that triggered voice overs of with zooms on details, with an easily recognized voice doing the narration (I think we used Liev Schreiber).
These were pre-CD-ROM interactive discs called CD-I, a failed interactive hybrid between CDROMS and laserdiscs from Philips.
Nicely done, although the subscribe overlay pitch kind of ruined it.
I did feel like as a piece (the website not the painting) it lacked context - why am i looking at this and to what end? Is this a short thing i can scroll through or is this something i shouldn't look at unless i can dedicate half an hour? Sort of like being dropped into the middle of a museum without knowing what the topic of the exhibit is.
I felt that highlighting the particular subtlety and detail of each portion of the painting by zooming in was useful. The fact that the painting was so intricately detailed results in a lot of points of interest.
I viewed this on a desktop rather than a phone. The PgDn key worked pretty well, though the text didn't always end up in the same vertical position. Sometimes I had to hit the down arrow key a few times afterwards.
Wouldn't a "Next" button do pretty much the same thing, though?
> Wouldn't a "Next" button do pretty much the same thing, though?
I wondered the same thing, and decided no, the scrolling is something different, and to my surprise, it is better than a Next button, which would have been easier.
Scrolling is more work, which is why I was wondering how to avoid it. But the work adds a quantitative linear dimension to the presentation, like walking the halls and corridors of a gallery.
Would the Met be a better experience if you could sit in a chair whilst the paintings were brought to in front of your face, one by one, at the click of a button?
I don't think that would be better, even though it would be less "work".
Firstly, effort expended contributes to my appreciation of the value.
Secondly, the spacial context of walking through the Met is a key factor in how I remember my time there. Place gives context to the art. Curators are highly mindful of this. Viewers are less mindful when the curation is done well, but they leave more satisfied because they are more able to take in the components of a collection which is well organised specially and temporally.
Scrolling isn't as powerful a rendition of place as walking halls is - but it goes some amount in that direction. I think it adds to the experience.
Ohh, that's cool. I guess I'm kind of burnt out on scrolling, though. Sometimes I wonder how many more spins the hardware in my mouse can take.
For what it's worth, which is very little, if the chair/painting movements were reversed I think you'd be onto something. Roller coasters with art exhibits along the tracks?
I agree, I felt as if I had a personal museum guide, and I was allowed to zoom in and out at will. My only complaint is the quality of the reproductions, it's a shame not to enjoy the brushstrokes.
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away
Please don't take HN threads into political, ideological, religious, or nationalistic flamewar. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. Commenters here need to leave such internet instincts elsewhere when they come to this community.
Edit: since you've been posting primarily (if not exclusively?) unsubstantive comments and flamebait, I've banned the account. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.
I think it's more offensive to see somebody call this offensive. It's just an analysis of a series of paintings and the royal and the rich and the corrupt and the powerful will always be around. To call this offensive is to be coddled into a false worldview that attempts to suppress the rancid, messy and yet commendable truth of humanity.
The irony of course is that one of the reasons we would know that historical tyrants were tyrants is precisely because of similar studies of art and literature of historical periods.
> It is why, just four years ago, textbooks told students “workers” were brought from Africa to America, not men, women and children in chains. It is why, last year, a teacher asked students to list “positive” aspects of slavery. It is why, even in 2019, there are teachers in schools who still think holding mock auctions is a good way for students to learn about slavery. Misinformation and flawed teaching about America’s “original sin” fills our classrooms from an early age.
I did my k-12 in India. The curriculum included Mughal empire but did not list any atrocities the op referred to. There is a story that Shah Jahan amputated the hands of the craftsmen who worked on the monuments. But that story is contested.
Please don't take HN threads further into ideological flamewar, and please omit name-calling and swipes from your posts here. This kind of thing only takes us deeper into hell.
Edit: we've had to warn you before about not posting flamewar comments to HN, and unfortunately it looks like you've been continuing to do it. That's not cool. If you'd please review the guidelines and fix this, we'd be grateful.
Can't tell what you're saying here lol. But what the original commenter commented wasn't an opinion (replete with reasoning, argument, etc.); it was the mindless recitation of a phrase they'd indoctrinated themselves with (equivalent to regurgitating the propaganda of a totalitarian regime)
Presumably the gloriousness of any emperor, from any empire we care to name, was bought with the blood of masses of peasants and weaker neighbors? Looking over the list[1] I don't see anything surprising.
Please don't post unsubstantive and/or flamebait comments to HN. It's not what this site is for, because it makes interesting topics more boring and much nastier.
A page from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, one of the most magnificent and fully-realized illustrated manuscripts in the tradition. Made in the workshops of the Iranian Savafids, contemporaries of the Mughals.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/The_Cour...
A portrait of Malik Amber, taken as a child from Ethiopia and raised in Yemen, rose to the prime ministership of a major sultanate in the Deccan - he was a major thorn in the side of Mughal emperor Jahangir because of his effective use of guerrilla tactics to evade conquest.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Malik_am...
The painting traditions weren't only sponsored by Muslim empires, but also regional courts, such as those in the Pahari hills in the north of India, from where arose Nainsukh, a court painter for a minor raja known for his delicate lines and flat spaces. The man on the left is the raja himself, subdued by the divinity of Radha and Krishna.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38009