Pietra dura ... by KarmaSong

Photography • Historical • posted on Sep 20, 2014

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Description

This is a tiny fragment of the impressive and superb mausoleum of I'timad-ud-Daulah, built in Agra, India. Often described as a "jewel box", sometimes called the "Baby Taj", the mausoleum is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal. It was made in the memory of Mirza Ghias Beg during 1622-1628 A.D. Mirza Ghiyas Beg was the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of the emperor Shah Jahan, responsible for the construction of the Taj Mahal.

Built entirely in white marble and inlaid with semi-precious stones, ( a technique called 'pietra dura' imported back then from Italian marble workers), it even surpasses , in my opinion, the beauty of the decoration and technique that was seen a couple of decades afterwards, used for the TÄ�j Mahal.

... Thank you very much for your comments on my last photoshopped capture. Please zoom in on this one and have a very sunny and/or artistic week-end .

Comments (30)

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e-brink

9:05AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Interesting information and certainly an impressive piece of inlay work. It seems to me to represent balance in the Universe.

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Gammacrucis

9:25AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Beautiful fragment of Marble! I am curious to know which kind of semiprecious stones are there... thank you Jean Luc for the information Jewel Box. When Photos and History come together!!! ^_^

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Jean_C

9:39AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Un fragment qui montre la magnificence des oeuvres exécutées à cette époque! Superbe phot et merci pour les infos, Jean-Luc!

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virginiese

10:04AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Mon Dieu, que c'est beau ! On dirait un travail de marqueterie fait avec de la pierre ! Un grand travail de précision qui force l'admiration ! Ta capture est excellente et j'aime le motif que tu as photographié. Je vois que l'Inde te fascine toujours autant et je comprends ta passion pour ce pays à travers les photos superbes que tu partages avec nous ! Merci d'échanger ces précieux souvenirs avec nous !

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kgb224

10:39AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Superb capture my friend. God bless.

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gaius

11:23AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Quand je pense qu'il y a des crétins (et même pire !) qui regardent ces gens là de haut !!! Quand on voit les merveilles dont ils ont été ou sont capables, à l'image de celle-ci, on se dit qu'ils n'ont rien à nous envier, en termes de raffinement (non !!! Juré ! je ne pense même pas au Kâmasûtra !!!), de classe, de dignité...une belle leçon.

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Cyve

11:38AM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Penss po au kama soustrait qu'il dit... Mais fo po le croire !!! Bref.. c'est vrai que c'est assez époustouflant et la prise de vue met bien en valeur le travail de l'artisan !!!

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VDH

1:06PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Amazing capture, very Interesting information!!

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Leije

1:19PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Ce marbre incrusté de pierres semi-précieuses est remarquable, merci de nous le montrer avec cette belle photo, et merci pour les infos, Jean-Luc !

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Hendesse

1:43PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

This looks very beautiful. Excellent shot, fantastic details.

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magnus073

1:49PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Jean-Luc, this is a truly marvelous presentation that really brightened up my day. I can't help but stare at those beautiful inlaid stones and the fine detail work. Thank you also for providing all of the background information that helped to bring this one to life.

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FredNunes

4:47PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

The details are amazing here my friend!

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flavia49

5:40PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

fantastic work

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MagikUnicorn

6:21PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Unique cette merveille :)

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tofi

7:30PM | Sat, 20 September 2014

Incredible piece of history, my Friend. You always have the most inspirational artpieces to show as a true inspiration. To think that something like this still exists somewhere in the world, is truly mystifying and sacred. How precious this is. It must have been such a fascinating reign. Makes me crave more information. As I look carefully in full zoom, I can really see just how "old" this is, but also notice the "scale" and how perfectly balanced this is. Thank you so much for sharing!

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