Art historian Anna Seastrand led us on a tour entitled Dressed to Impress: Fashioning Allegiance in the Mughal Court. These paintings clearly call for careful looking, so make sure you use the magnifying glasses when you visit. Seastrand helped us look deeply into these amazing works of art and decode the elaborate luxury items worn by the Mughal emperors. Is that just a robe or is it a not-so-subtle symbol of power?
In the above painting, Jahangir wears a pearl earring. We learned from Seastrand that in 1614 the emperor was gravely ill, and wrote that if he recovered he would pledge his allegiance to the Sufi Shaikh: “I would pierce my ear and become his ear-pierced devotee.”
You can see the white pearl in Jahangir’s ear. What’s also interesting is that once the emperor pierced his ear, so did his attendants and members of the court.
Clearly, this emperor knew how to dress to impress.
