Author Description

"This book about miniature painting at the Bundelkhand royal courts of Orchha, Datia, and Panna offers a new insight into the origin and source of creation of these exquisite paintings, and seeks to dispel earlier misconceptions about their provenance. The miniature school of Bundelkhand that first developed at Orchha was the earliest and most Indian of all the Rajput schools, and at the time of its founding the only one to practice a purely indigenous style of painting, "untainted" by the naturalism of imperial Mughal painting. The author's inter- pretations and stylistic analyses of over 240 paintings from his collection, many of them published here for the first time, shed light on the school's development from the late sixteenth century to the early days of British rule.The book also introduces readers to the conceptual world of Rajput min- iature painting and the rasa aesthetic that anticipates the modern reception aesthetic." --