Naqsha-i-Minar Qutab Saheb

While beginning to document the country—for greater grip on the newly acquired territory and for aesthetic pleasure of patrons back home—the English East India Company commissioned painters of erstwhile Mughal courts (evident from the Persian signature as in this work) along with artists from England, to create likenesses of India’s characteristic features. The Qutub Minar—the 12^th century monument that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site—in this work is miniature in scale but combines western elements of depth and perspective to create a painting that is a great example of the era it represents.