Fables of the Orient. Miniaturists, artists, and adventurers at the court of Lahore.
NMR| N° d'inventaire | 21693 |
| Format | 13.5 x 18 |
| Détails | 96 p., 63 illustrations, publisher's hardcover. |
| Publication | Paris, 2019 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782711874255 |
In 1799, the sovereign Ranjit Singh seized Lahore, making it his capital, ruling over a Sikh empire extending across the whole of Punjab. Bolstered by his military successes, achieved thanks to a trained army of European officers "surviving the glories of the Napoleonic adventure," his dynasty restored order in Lahore and unified Punjab. As evidence of this adventure in the Orient, the Memoirs of General Court (1793-1880), preserved in the library of the Guimet Museum, and, more surprisingly, a copy of La Fontaine's Fables, at the Jean de La Fontaine Museum in Château-Thierry, commissioned by a fervent admirer of the fabulist - Baron Félix Feuillet de Conches - have come down to us, illustrated by Imam Bakhsh, a famous artist from Lahore. In these two works of exceptional pictorial richness, the painter delivers a collection of colorful and unpublished miniatures, revealing to the general public a singular aspect of the Indian production of the time, between portraits of maharajahs, scenes related to the court of Lahore and an unusual revisitation of La Fontaine's Fables. Exhibition Fables d'Orient - Miniaturists, artists and adventurers at the court of Lahore at the Guimet Museum from February 20 to May 27, 2019.
In 1799, the sovereign Ranjit Singh seized Lahore, making it his capital, ruling over a Sikh empire extending across the whole of Punjab. Bolstered by his military successes, achieved thanks to a trained army of European officers "surviving the glories of the Napoleonic adventure," his dynasty restored order in Lahore and unified Punjab. As evidence of this adventure in the Orient, the Memoirs of General Court (1793-1880), preserved in the library of the Guimet Museum, and, more surprisingly, a copy of La Fontaine's Fables, at the Jean de La Fontaine Museum in Château-Thierry, commissioned by a fervent admirer of the fabulist - Baron Félix Feuillet de Conches - have come down to us, illustrated by Imam Bakhsh, a famous artist from Lahore. In these two works of exceptional pictorial richness, the painter delivers a collection of colorful and unpublished miniatures, revealing to the general public a singular aspect of the Indian production of the time, between portraits of maharajahs, scenes related to the court of Lahore and an unusual revisitation of La Fontaine's Fables. Exhibition Fables d'Orient - Miniaturists, artists and adventurers at the court of Lahore at the Guimet Museum from February 20 to May 27, 2019.