{"id":{"repo_id":"vcu","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1606"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vcu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1606","repository":{"repo_id":"vcu","name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","base_url":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Construction of Female Identity in Mughal Painting: Portraits of Women from the Shah Jahan Period (ca. 1628-1658)","abstract":"Paintings of women as individual subjects were a popular theme in the Mughal court during the mid-seventeenth century, or the Shah Jahan period (ca. 1628-1658). These portraits depict idealized archetypes with subtle differences in facial and bodily features. The same portrait conventions were used for both historical and imaginary women. This thesis has three aims: (1) identify and explain the significance of three elements that visually represent an ideal Mughal woman using a case study from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts called Page from the Nasir al-Din Shah Album: Portrait of a Mughal Woman (ca. 1630-45), (2) combine visual and textual sources to further the study of Mughal women, and (3) reinsert the portraits of Mughal women within a larger scope of female imagery in Indian art to show that Mughal paintings encompass just one part of a much bigger story. Paintings of Mughal women are not only aesthetic works of art—they are historical artifacts.","abstract_html":"Paintings of women as individual subjects were a popular theme in the Mughal court during the mid-seventeenth century, or the Shah Jahan period (ca. 1628-1658). These portraits depict idealized archetypes with subtle differences in facial and bodily features. The same portrait conventions were used for both historical and imaginary women. This thesis has three aims: (1) identify and explain the significance of three elements that visually represent an ideal Mughal woman using a case study from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts called Page from the Nasir al-Din Shah Album: Portrait of a Mughal Woman (ca. 1630-45), (2) combine visual and textual sources to further the study of Mughal women, and (3) reinsert the portraits of Mughal women within a larger scope of female imagery in Indian art to show that Mughal paintings encompass just one part of a much bigger story. Paintings of Mughal women are not only aesthetic works of art—they are historical artifacts.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Prasertwaitaya, Leila"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Art History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dina Bangdel"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-04-24T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-04-24T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:02Z","subjects":["Mughal","Shah Jahan","Female Identity","Islamic Art","Portraiture","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":["© The Author"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/607"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/607","href":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/607","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25772/CG38-7W29","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dina Bangdel"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Prasertwaitaya, Leila"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Art History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mughal","Shah Jahan","Female Identity","Islamic Art","Portraiture","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© The Author"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.25772/CG38-7W29","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/607"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Paintings of women as individual subjects were a popular theme in the Mughal court during the mid-seventeenth century, or the Shah Jahan period (ca. 1628-1658). These portraits depict idealized archetypes with subtle differences in facial and bodily features. The same portrait conventions were used for both historical and imaginary women. This thesis has three aims: (1) identify and explain the significance of three elements that visually represent an ideal Mughal woman using a case study from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts called Page from the Nasir al-Din Shah Album: Portrait of a Mughal Woman (ca. 1630-45), (2) combine visual and textual sources to further the study of Mughal women, and (3) reinsert the portraits of Mughal women within a larger scope of female imagery in Indian art to show that Mughal paintings encompass just one part of a much bigger story. Paintings of Mughal women are not only aesthetic works of art—they are historical artifacts."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Construction of Female Identity in Mughal Painting: Portraits of Women from the Shah Jahan Period (ca. 1628-1658)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dina Bangdel"],"dc:creator":["Prasertwaitaya, Leila"],"dc:date.available":["2024-05-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Paintings of women as individual subjects were a popular theme in the Mughal court during the mid-seventeenth century, or the Shah Jahan period (ca. 1628-1658). These portraits depict idealized archetypes with subtle differences in facial and bodily features. The same portrait conventions were used for both historical and imaginary women. This thesis has three aims: (1) identify and explain the significance of three elements that visually represent an ideal Mughal woman using a case study from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts called Page from the Nasir al-Din Shah Album: Portrait of a Mughal Woman (ca. 1630-45), (2) combine visual and textual sources to further the study of Mughal women, and (3) reinsert the portraits of Mughal women within a larger scope of female imagery in Indian art to show that Mughal paintings encompass just one part of a much bigger story. Paintings of Mughal women are not only aesthetic works of art—they are historical artifacts."],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.25772/CG38-7W29","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/607"],"dc:rights":["© The Author"],"dc:subject":["Mughal","Shah Jahan","Female Identity","Islamic Art","Portraiture","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["The Construction of Female Identity in Mughal Painting: Portraits of Women from the Shah Jahan Period (ca. 1628-1658)"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Art History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:02Z"}