Studies in Indian Painting

Studies in Indian Painting by Nanalal Chamanlal Mehta, published in Bombay in 1926 by D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., is an important early survey of Indian painting from approximately the seventh century to the nineteenth century. The volume brings together a wide range of material on regional schools, mural traditions, manuscript painting, court art, and later miniature painting, supported by numerous colour and half-tone plates. The book covers major subjects such as the Pallava frescoes of Sittannavāsal, secular painting in Gujarat, Jaipur painting, the Bundela school, the court art of Tehri-Garhwal, works associated with Abul Hasan Nadir-uz-Zaman and Ustad Salivahana, as well as floral studies and individual examples from Mughal, Rajput, Jain, and regional traditions. Mehta’s foreword also emphasizes the importance of tracing both the continuity and regional diversity of Indian pictorial traditions, including the relationship between mural painting, manuscript illustration, court patronage, and later schools of painting. The work is particularly useful for students and researchers interested in the historical development, regional styles, iconography, patronage, and aesthetic characteristics of Indian painting.