Few monuments have inspired as many interpretations as the Taj Mahal, a structure that has, over centuries, come to embody love, loss, faith, and imperial ambition all at once. A new exhibition at DAG, titled “The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal”, invites viewers to look beyond the marble and minarets, to the beliefs and aspirations of Emperor Shah Jahan and his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Opening on October 25 at DAG (formerly Delhi Art Gallery) and curated by historian Rana Safvi, the exhibition brings together around 200 works spanning the late 18th to the mid-20th century. From Company School paintings and early photographs to modern interpretations by foreign and Indian artists, the show offers a sweeping visual narrative of the Taj Mahal and its complex and the many ways it has been imagined and reimagined.
“These works do more than document the monument: they reflect evolving artistic interpretations of the tomb’s architecture, interiors, gardens and subsidiary monuments,” an organiser from DAG said, adding that the exhibition will be on view till December 6.
Safvi’s curatorial approach draws attention to the monument’s layers of meaning, as both a metaphor for paradise and a symbol of power. “By foregrounding the tomb’s exquisitely inscribed Quranic calligraphy, celestial imagery and paradisiacal architecture, the exhibition reveals the Taj Mahal as at once a metaphor for paradise in Islamic thought and a testament to imperial grandeur,” she explained. “It also traces the monument’s evolving meanings, from a sacred sepulchral space to its later transformation into a global emblem of love.”
The show’s artistic range is remarkable. Company paintings by Agra-based artists preserve the monument’s ornamental details with exquisite precision, while works by foreign artists — from the stately 18th-century views of British artist Thomas Daniell to the elegant 1930s woodblock prints of Japanese master Hiroshi Yoshida and British painter Charles William Bartlett — trace how the Taj captured global imagination across time.
“The exhibition also features modern Indian artists such as Abanindranath Tagore, LN Taskar, S Bagchi and Jyoti Bhatt, whose works reinterpret the Taj within the framework of an emerging Indian modernity. Complementing these are early photographs and postcards from the 1850s to the mid-20th century, charting both the evolution of photography and the monument’s role in shaping visual narratives of India,” one of the organisers said.
Among the photographers represented are pioneers such as Felice Beato, Samuel Bourne, John Edward Saché and Thomas Rust, alongside renowned Indian photographers including Lala Deen Dayal and RR Bharadwaj.
For the first time, selections from the archive of Albert Edward Griessen, who was the Superintendent of the Taj and Government Gardens between 1902 and 1905, will be on public view as part of the DAG collection.
“An accompanying publication edited by Safvi delves further into the Taj Mahal’s overlooked histories, from the forgotten market quarter of Taj Ganj, which once linked the monument to the city’s commercial life, to the stories of women besides Mumtaz who shaped Shah Jahan’s court and the architectural ensemble around the mausoleum,” the organiser said.
Throughout the duration of the exhibition, DAG will host a series of talks and discussions featuring Safvi and other contributors, including Michael Calabria, Ursula Weekes, Amita Baig, Ira Mukhoty, Emily Shovelton, Giles Tillotson and Muzaffar Ali, each adding another layer to the continuing conversation around one of the world’s most enduring works of art.